NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday faced very public criticism from his own staffers.
WCBS 880’s Marla Diamond reports former and current staffers of the mayor rallied together on Monday saying they felt betrayed at his defense of the NYPD.
Former staffer Hannah Shaw said she was arrested at a peaceful protest and the actions the NYPD took against her were worrisome.
“I am here because like so many of you I have been on the ground and what the mayor claims he's seen is not what I 've seen,” she told a group of protesters.
Activists demanded the mayor cut $1 billion from the NYPD budget.
Christopher Cullens-McNeil, a former de Blasio staffer, said the mayor has not presented a path forward, so they’re demanding one.
“He spoke very vaguely. There were not numbers, and facts and figures about what he wants to do, they were more platitudes,” he tells Diamond.
The protesters who marched across the Brooklyn Bridge say they would rather risk their jobs than risk the lives of people of color.
The group is demanding the money be diverted to youth programs, which NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea says he is in support of.
In a tweet, he said he “1000 percent” supports the diversion of funds from the NYPD to youths in the city, saying everyone has to “dig down and do what is needed.”
Mayor de Blasio says he supports the idea that's been voiced by the crowds of protesters, but would not go into specifics when asked how much police funding might be cut.
He says a dollar figure will emerge after discussions with city council.
The NYPD receives around $6 billion annually from New York City.