The devastation that the novel coronavirus inflicted on New York’s economy and public health gave way to another crisis testing the city’s mettle this spring: its share of a nationwide wave of protests and riots sparked by the death of George Floyd, who died with his neck pinned under the knee of a police officer in Minneapolis. The physical and psychological damage that Gotham suffered was substantial—and could prove even more consequential for the city’s long-term outlook than Covid-19.
The mayhem and violence, televised to the world in late May, struck across the city. Along New York’s famed Madison Avenue, a coordinated looting campaign left many stores emptied. In lower Manhattan, an officer was severely beaten with a fire extinguisher, his ordeal temporarily memorialized by bloodstained concrete. In Brooklyn, police officers were targeted with Molotov cocktails. In the Bronx, a sergeant was mowed down by fleeing looters.
Read Full Article »