Money, Power, Politics, by Joyce Purnick: on Crime
Al Sharpton:
Made name as "Sultan of Spin" on Tawana Brawley case
The large, loud Reverend Al, "The Sultan of Spin" as the "Times" of London called him, has never been elected to office but shapes NY politics as surely as any old-time political boss, and just as effectively, if not more so.
A Huckster to some, a statesman to others, Sharpton first made his name in 1987 when he defended a young black woman named Tawana Brawley, whose claims of abduction and rape by a group of white men were ultimately exposed as a cruel hoax.
Sharpton never admitted error, parading instead as an in-your-face voice of the disaffected.
Many Jews suspected him of anti-Semitism; the business community worried that if his candidate Ferrer won, Sharpton would have too much influence
in City Hall. Others saw him as a fact of NY life while still others venerated him as a genuine representative of the poor, the abused and the disaffected.
Source: Bloomberg: Money, Power, Politics, by Joyce Purnick, p.101
Sep 28, 2010
Mike Bloomberg:
OpEd: never a conspicuous civil libertarian
New Yorkers, most of them still Democrats, objected to Bloomberg's handling of the 2004 Republican National Convention, when 1,800 people were arrested and held in a large detention center, some guilty of no more than standing on a street during a police
sweep. Never a conspicuous civil libertarian, the mayor brusquely dismisses the issue of the treatment of demonstrators, and privacy in general, justifying himself and his Police Department: "There's a camera watching you at all times when you're out in
the street; the civil liberties issue has long been settled," he says.As he sees it, those who were arrested put themselves at risk and in effect got what they deserved because the police were reacting to threats. 5 years after the convention, the
city had spent $6.6 million to defend the lawsuits, an additional $1.7 million to settle 90 claims and still faced lawsuits filed by hundreds of plaintiffs. About 90% of the people arrested had their charges dismissed outright or dropped after 6 months.
Source: Bloomberg: Money, Power, Politics, by J.Purnick, p.154-155
Sep 28, 2010
Mike Bloomberg:
Reduce crime but with a more racially sensitive police force
Bloomberg wanted the city's reduction in crime under Rudy Giuliani to go further. And he wanted a more sensitive police force and a new civility in dealing with black and Hispanic New Yorkers. He would do away with patronage, turn a deaf ear to
the lobbyists and special pleaders and, as the law demands, balance the budget. Bloomberg suddenly had a comprehensive agenda for New Yorkers of all kinds, one that sent a clear message: Trust me. Let me get on with the job. I am all you need.
Source: Bloomberg: Money, Power, Politics, by Joyce Purnick, p.123
Sep 28, 2010
Mike Bloomberg:
Apologizing for police racial errors kept city calm
Just before 6AM on a spring day in 2003, Alberta Spruill, an African American woman of 57, was in her Harlem home getting ready for work when police officers threw a concussion grenade into her apartment, crashed through her door, and handcuffed her.
After complaining of chest pains, she was being ferried by ambulance when her heart suddenly stopped. Two hours later she was dead--literally frightened to death by police who had acted on an informant's erroneous tip about guns and drugs.Bloomberg
called what had happened tragic and "a terrible episode," and spoke with apology and candor at her funeral. A public accustomed to Rudy Giuliani routinely giving the police the benefit of every doubt greeted Bloomberg's apologetic tone with surprise and
gratitude.
The city stayed calm after Alberta Spruill's death. And it stayed calm over the new few months despite two more police encounters with innocent African American, each of which provoked similarly soothing and rapid reactions from Bloomberg.
Source: Bloomberg: Money, Power, Politics, by Joyce Purnick, p.138
Sep 28, 2010
Page last updated: Feb 18, 2019