A black bloc is a tactic used by protesters who wear black clothing, ski masks, scarves, sunglasses, motorcycle helmets with padding or other face-concealing and face-protecting items. The clothing is used to conceal wearers' identities and hinder criminal prosecution by making it difficult to distinguish between participants. It is also used to protect their faces and eyes from pepper spray, which is used by police during protests or civil unrest. The tactic also allows the group to appear as one large unified mass. Black bloc participants are often associated with anarchism, anarcho-communism, communism, libertarian socialism and the anti-globalization movement.
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in the United States.
Sean Patrick Hannity is an American talk show host, conservative political commentator, and author. He is the host of The Sean Hannity Show, a nationally syndicated talk radio show, and has also hosted a commentary program, Hannity, on Fox News, since 2009.
Rikers Island is a 413-acre (167.14-hectare) island in the East River in the Bronx that contains New York City's largest jail.
Trump Tower is a 58-story, 664-foot-tall (202 m) mixed-use skyscraper at 721–725 Fifth Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, between East 56th and 57th Streets. The building contains the headquarters for the Trump Organization, as well as the penthouse condominium residence of its developer, businessman and former U.S. president Donald Trump. Several members of the Trump family also live, or have resided, in the building. The tower stands on a plot where the flagship store of department-store chain Bonwit Teller was formerly located.
Letitia Ann James is an American lawyer and politician. She is a member of the Democratic Party and the current Attorney General of New York, having won the 2018 election to succeed appointed Attorney General Barbara Underwood. She is the first African-American and first woman to be elected to the position.
ABC No Rio is a collectively-run non-profit arts organization on New York City's Lower East Side. It was founded in 1980 in a squat at 156 Rivington Street, following the eviction of the 1979-80 Real Estate Show. The centre featured an art gallery space, a zine library, a darkroom, a silkscreening studio, and public computer lab. In addition, it played host to a number of radical projects including weekly hardcore punk matinees and the city Food Not Bombs collective.
Cyrus Roberts Vance Jr. is an American attorney and politician who served as the District Attorney of New York County, New York, also known as the Manhattan District Attorney. He was previously a principal partner at the law firm of Morvillo, Abramowitz, Grand, Iason, Anello, & Bohrer, P.C. He is the son of Cyrus Vance Sr., former Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter. Vance did not seek reelection as District Attorney in the 2021 election, and was succeeded by Alvin Bragg. He is currently a partner at Baker McKenzie.
Rats in New York City are widespread, as they are in many densely populated areas. They are considered a cultural symbol of the city. For a long time, the number of rats in New York City was unknown, and a common urban legend declared there were up to five times as many rats as people. However, a 2014 study estimates that there are approximately 2 million rats in New York, which is close to a quarter of New York's human population.
Corey David Johnson is an American politician and lobbyist. A member of the Democratic Party, he was Speaker of the New York City Council from January 2018 to January 2022.
The International Freedom Battalion, commonly abbreviated as IFB or EÖT, is a revolutionary socialist armed group consisting of leftist foreign fighters fighting for the People's Defense Units in the Syrian Civil War in support of the Rojava Revolution and against the Turkish Armed Forces, the Syrian National Army, and Islamic State. The formation of the IFB was announced in June 2015 in Ras al-Ayn. Inspiration for the group came from the International Brigades of the Spanish Civil War. The political ideologies of the fighters include anarchism, Marxism–Leninism, Hoxhaism, Maoism, and anarcho-communism.
The International Revolutionary People's Guerrilla Forces (IRPGF) was a collective of anarchist fighters from around the world. Its formation was announced on 31 March 2017. According to the group, their goals were to defend the social revolution in Rojava in northern Syria, and to spread anarchism. The group announced its dissolution on 24 September 2018.
Antifa is a left-wing anti-fascist and anti-racist political movement in the United States. It consists of a highly decentralized array of autonomous groups that use both nonviolent direct action and violence to achieve their aims. Most antifa political activism is nonviolent, involving poster and flyer campaigns, mutual aid, speeches, protest marches, and community organizing. Some who identify as antifa also combat far-right extremists and, at times, law enforcement, with tactics including digital activism, doxing, harassment, physical violence, and property damage.
Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center is a mosque in Bloomington, Minnesota, United States.
Jabari Brisport is an American politician, activist, and former public school teacher. He is the state senator for New York's 25th State Senate district in Brooklyn, and the first openly gay person of color ever elected to the New York State Legislature.
Decolonize This Place is a movement based in New York City that organizes around Indigenous rights, black liberation, Palestinian nationalism, de-gentrification, and economic inequality. Their actions often take place at museums and cultural institutions and focus on colonialist tendencies within the art world.
The Sergeants Benevolent Association(SBA) is an American police union that represents the sergeants of the New York City Police Department (NYPD), while the department's nonsupervisory patrol officers are represented by the larger Police Benevolent Association. The SBA is characterized by the Associated Press as a partisan organization, and is known for perpetually criticizing the Mayor of New York City, unfavored police commissioners, and other politicians through an inflammatory Twitter account, press releases and other media statements.
George Floyd protests in New York City took place at several sites in each of the five New York City boroughs, starting on May 28, 2020, in reaction to the murder of George Floyd. Most of the protests were peaceful, while some sites experienced protester and/or police violence, including several high-profile incidents of excessive force. Looting became a parallel issue, especially in Manhattan. As a result, and amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the city was placed under curfew from June 1–7, the first curfew in the city since 1943. The protests catalyzed efforts at police reform, leading to the criminalization of chokeholds during arrests, the repeal of 50-a, and other legislation. Several murals and memorials have been created around the city in George Floyd's honor, and demonstrations against racial violence and police brutality continue as part of the larger Black Lives Matter movement in New York City.
New York City has been the site of many Black Lives Matter protests in response to incidents of police brutality and racially motivated violence against black people. The Black Lives Matter movement began as a hashtag after the shooting death of African-American teen Trayvon Martin, and became nationally recognized for street demonstrations following the 2014 deaths of two African Americans, Michael Brown and Eric Garner. Garner was killed in the Staten Island borough of New York City, leading to protests, demonstrations, and work towards changes in policing and the law. Following the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota in 2020, the global response included extensive protests in New York City, and several subsequent changes to policy.
The following is a timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City.
