Dear Friends,
At the Interfaith Center, we believe in building stronger ties between New York’s religious communities and work to connect religious leaders across diverse traditions to secular organizations and city agencies on issues of shared concern for all New Yorkers. We also have a strong commitment to highlighting the voices of religious leaders on issues that impact their communities.
Yesterday, working with Communities United for Police Reform and in anticipation of a full City Council meeting that will take place tomorrow, August 22nd, religious leaders stood on the steps of City Hall to call for councilmembers to override Mayor Bloomberg’s veto of Community Safety Act (CSA).
The leaders who gathered yesterday were Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, and Yoruba. They individually and collectively delivered a strong message about the moral imperative to outlaw all forms of discriminatory profiling and the need for a more accountable and transparent police department. Their commitment to community safety and community justice are reflected in some of the quotes highlighted below.
Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) urges New York City residents to CALL YOUR COUNCIL MEMBERS to urge them to continue to stand strongly against profiling and support transparency for the NYPD. There will also be a CSA VETO OVERRIDE – RALLY + PRESS CONFERENCE, on Thurs, Aug 22nd at noon at City Hall. *Please aim to arrive by 11:30am to make sure you get through security. Don’t forget to bring your organizational banners.*
Help spread the word about the rally! Please join the Facebook events page, re-post and share! https://www.facebook.com/events/607501735969019/
Selected quotes from religious leaders at yesterday’s press conference:
“It’s important that New Yorkers know that discrimination by their own government is prohibited,” said Bishop Orlando Findlayter, senior pastor of New Hope Christian Fellowship and the chairman of CUSH – Churches United to Save & Heal (CUSH). “This is a matter of right and wrong – profiling someone based on who they are is simply unacceptable. The City Council should move ahead to improve safety for everyone in our city by overriding the mayor’s veto of the Community Safety Act.”
“After the victory of last week’s court ruling on stop and frisk, we now move forward to the next phase of assuring that the dehumanization of thousands of young black and Latina/o men and women ends permanently by supporting the Community Safety Act legislation,” said Samuel Cruz, Senior Pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church and Assistant Professor of Religion and Society at Union Theological Seminary.
Imam Talib ‘Abdur Rashid
“The Majlis Ash-Shura (Islamic Leadership Council) of Metropolitan New York continues to join with other faith leaders in both supporting and praying for the City Council,” said Imam Al-Hajj Talib ‘Abdur-Rashid, President of The Majlis Ash-Shura (Islamic Leadership Council) of Metropolitan New York. “The Mayor, supported by the Police Commissioner, continues to defend the indefensible while seeking to veto legislation that would ban racial profiling in law enforcement, and establish Inspector General oversight for the NYPD. In this matter, the City Council has shown courageous and responsible leadership in seeking to establish a balance between public safety and public rights. It must stand fast and act according to its conscience in defense of the public good. We pray for their success, for the sake of all New Yorkers.”
“Jewish tradition teaches that all human beings are created B’tzelem Elohim – in the image of God – equal in dignity, worth, and divinity,” said Rabbi Rachel Grant-Meyer, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice Rabbinic Council. “Now is the time for New Yorkers to come together to ensure that safety is synonymous with protection of human rights and the assurance of human dignity, without the threat of racial profiling and other forms of discriminatory policing. That is what it means to live the value that we are created B’tzelem Elohim.”
Gurjot Kaur
“If we want to end unlawful profiling by the NYPD, preserve the relationship between law enforcement and citizenry, protect all New Yorkers, and defend the rule of law, we cannot do it without the Community Safety Act,” said Gurjot Kaur, Staff Attorney for the Sikh Coalition. “If we want to maintain the world-renowned multiculturalism of our great city, which is funded by our commitment to civil rights, the City Council must override Mayor Bloomberg’s veto. All New Yorkers, regardless of their race, religion, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, immigration, disability, or housing status, have the right to live their lives with dignity and without fear of being terrorized by the NYPD.”
“We, as a movement, are equally committed to policing that both honors the civil rights of every New Yorker and is vigilant about stopping crime,” said Pastor Joseph Tolton of Rivers at Rehoboth Church. “As the gay community has experienced a rash of hate crimes in New York this summer, we are not naive about the need to be intolerant of criminal behavior. Today we stand for justice and call on the city council to stay committed. The balance of safety and civil rights is an achievable goal.”
Iya Oseye Mchawi
“We need the Community Safety Act to be implemented NOW,” said Iya Oseye Mchawi, of Omo Obatala Egbe of Brooklyn. “Our youth must not continue to be subjected to the embarrassing, disrespectful and demoralizing stop and frisk policies of the NYPD and Mayor Bloomberg. Fear and mistrust of the police are the results. Is that the intended goal?”
Rev. Chloe Breyer
“With our commitment to building positive police-community relations, the Interfaith Center of New York strongly supports the Community Safety Act and asks the City Council to override the Mayor’s veto,” said Reverend Chloe Breyer, Executive Director of the Interfaith Center of New York. “An accountable NYPD free from the practice of profiling on the basis of such factors as religion or race is good news for New Yorkers of every background and means a safer, more just city for all of us.” In her remarks, Rev. Breyer referred to our last Rabbi Marshall Meyer Retreat, noting opportunities to learn from other cities’ experiences of building trust between community and police.
The Interfaith Center of New York would like to thank all religious leaders for taking active interest in this issue, for investing their time to seek greater safety for all New Yorkers, and advocating for greater trust and justice.