History Repeats Itself Once Again

 While reading New City, New Frontier: The Lower East Side as Wild, Wild West by Neil Smith, I noticed many of the past problems in the lower east side seem to still affect us today on a bigger scale. While describing the conflicts regarding Tompkins Square Park, I could not help but find major similarities to present day issues, such as the Black Lives Matter Movement in response to police brutality and the impact current government officials have on the lives of the homeless and underprivilege. During the 1980s riots surrounding Tompkins Square Park, Smith acknowledges the government’s abuse of power through its attempts of implementing a curfew and ridding the park of the homeless population. While these may seem like minor changes, many people viewed these rules as the governments way of promoting gentrification and showing its disregard for the poor. These beliefs were further vilified when the Mayor of New York City, Edward Koch, “described Tompkins Square Park as a ‘cesspool’ and blamed the riot on ‘anarchists’” (Smith). Furthermore, when “the head of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association enthusiastically agreed [that] ‘social parasites, druggies, skinheads, and communist’ -an ‘insipid conglomeration of human misfits’-were the cause of the riot,’” many were rightfully outraged. (Smith). These mere two quotes show just how one sided the government can be and further proved to New Yorkers that their problems were insignificant to the government. The real reason the park was under attack was because the people who occupied the park opposed the government’s goal of further gentrifying the city. The park was made up of the underprivileged and underrepresented, which further explained why people in power showed no remorse or understanding for park activists. The government blatantly ignored the opinions of park users on what to do with Tompkins Square Park; the government put their greed before the well-being of its citizens. This disregard for the general opinion of the public reminds me of current affairs in regard to electing government officials, passing controversial laws, and deciding budgets for different government organizations. These affairs include debates about the current president, abortion laws, marijuana laws, and funding for organization targeted for helping the people (i.e. Planned Parenthood, Medicare, Medicaid, and national conservation services).

Furthermore, the brutality used to block off people from entering the park and enforcing new rules was absolutely horrid. Multiple videos from riots depict law enforcement officers beating rioters to an unnecessary extreme. The only way to properly describe these beatings is to call them abuse; an abuse of people, an abuse of resources, and an abuse of power. Smith writes, “seventeen police officers were cited for ‘misconduct’…but none were ever convicted” and that, “the police commissioner conceded that a few officers may have been a little ‘overenthusiastic’ due to ‘inexperience,’ but he clung to the official policy of blaming the victims” (Smith). It is obvious that the government and police force defended their own and covered up their mistakes instead of caring for the people injured. The excessive force used to remove and prevent people from the park was unnecessary and a perfect example of abuse of power by a government official. This correlates with the current issue of police brutality specifically towards people of color and people in the lower classes. With multiple instances of abuse and death by police officers dating back all the way to the 80s, one would think there would be a solution by now. While body cameras have been implemented to discourage police misconduct, there are multiple instances of officers turning off their body cameras or withholding the footage. When looking at the Tompkins Square riots, one would think the days of ignoring the needs of the underprivileged and covering up abuse of power are over. Sadly, this is not the case.