(AP) Gov. Andrew Cuomo denounced Mayor Bill de Blasio and the New York City police as ineffective in the face of the nightly looting. The governor said he offered help from the National Guard, an option de Blasio opposes.
“The NYPD and the mayor did not do their job last night, I believe that,” Cuomo said at his briefing in Albany. “You have 38,000 NYPD people. It is the largest police department in the United States of America. Use 38,000 people and protect property.”
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Cuomo and de Blasio are frequently at odds, but the governor was especially forceful in accusing his fellow Democrat of underestimating the problem. Unprompted, Cuomo brought up the possibility of using his power as governor to replace the mayor, then immediately shot down the idea as legally impractical and unnecessary.
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On Monday, an 11 p.m. curfew - the city's first in decades - failed to prevent destruction as groups of people smashed their way into shops, including Macy's flagship Manhattan store.
Police said nearly 700 people were arrested and several officers were injured during the chaos Monday night and early Tuesday.
As the day dawned, the city appeared to have made progress limiting violent clashes between police and large groups of demonstrators marching throughout the city over the death of George Floyd. Several big marches went off peacefully, with one hours-long demonstration in Brooklyn allowed to continue long after an 11 p.m. curfew.
But for a second night, roving bands of young people attacked businesses in Manhattan's glitzy shopping districts and a poor neighborhood in the Bronx, where shops were looted and rubbish set on fire.
People rushed into a Nike store and carried out armloads of clothing. Storefront windows were smashed near Rockefeller Center and wreckage littered the inside of an AT&T store.
BRIEFING NOTES
- It's day 94 of COVID-19, Day 9 of George Floyd protests.
- Gov. Cuomo: Government really matters in the middle of a crisis. Especially a social crisis. That's when people have to handle the crisis.
- Cuomo says his strategy is to inform the people, offer a plan, then ask for support.
- Gov. Cuomo says it's the worst political division he has seen in his lifetime.
- Number of new COVID-19 cases is at an all-time low at 154. The number of deaths was reported at 58 on Monday.
- Some more upstate, central NY regions are entering phase two. NYC on track to open phase one on Monday.
- Protesters are "rightly outraged" and have been "peaceful." He says criminal activity and looters are exploiting the opportunity.
- Gov. Cuomo says he is 'disappointed and outraged' at looting in New York City last night. "The police must stop the looting and criminal activity. That is the essence of the police force. They are supposed to protect the community, protect the property. They did not do that in New York City last night."
- Gov. Cuomo says Mayor De Blasio refused assistance of National Guard to help stop looting.
- Gov. Cuomo: The protesters are separate from the looters.
- Gov. Cuomo says Mayor Bill de Blasio is "underestimating the scope of the problem."
- "I think he underestimates the duration of the problem and I don't think they have used enough police to address the situation."
- He says "the NYPD and the mayor did not do their job last night."
- Gov. Cuomo muses on "displacing" Mayor de Blasio and bring in the National Guard. He says that's not necessary.
