Mayor Bloomberg has a simple Band-Aid for city councilman Jumaane D. Williams, who was questionably handcuffed and detained by police at the holiday weekend’s West Indian Day Parade. “The police have a job to do and the city councilman has a job to do and hopefully, every once in a while, if there’s a misunderstanding, that they have a beer together and work it out,” the mayor said this morning. It’s not that simple for Williams, who thinks race played a factor, and the legislative aide, Kirsten John Foy, who is also black and was arrested as well. In response to the mayor’s brush-off, the pair released a statement: “While we appreciate the Mayor’s gesture, this is bigger than the three of us over a beer. We would rather have a meeting with the Mayor and the Commissioner, where young African American and Latino NYers can talk openly and directly about their experiences with stop and frisk and other police interactions.” Good as it is, maybe alcohol doesn’t solve everything.
The NYPD and Councilman Williams probably just need to drink together, says Bloomberg
[Capital New York]
