New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday defended a recent city council ruling to redirect $1 billion from police funding toward education and mental health initiatives.
The Tuesday decision has received mixed reactions in the wake of nationwide anti-racism protests following the May 25 death of George Floyd in the custody of Minneapolis police, with some questioning the effectiveness of the redirection and others saying the move doesn’t go far enough in defunding the police.
“It’s really important in this moment in history to take money away from police and shift it towards the needs of the people,” Mr. de Blasio told CNN on Wednesday morning. “Our young people don’t need to be policed, they need to be reached and supported.”
CNN cited an increase in the number of shootings this year compared to last year and pressed the mayor on the timing of the decision.
The mayor pointed to the impacts of the coronavirus crisis, which he said is “making everything more difficult.”
“We’re going to fight back this challenge. The NYPD always fights back,” Mr. de Blasio said.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat, hit back at the city’s move late Tuesday and called the $1 billion funding redirection from the NYPD’s $6 billion budget a “disingenuous illusion.”
“Defunding police means defunding police,” she said in a statement. “It does not mean budget tricks or funny math. It does not mean moving school police officers from the NYPD budget to the Department of Education’s budget so that the exact same police remain in schools.”
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