NYC remembers MLK at time of focus on race relations
The life of Martin Luther King Jr. was remembered across New York City on Monday, the annual commemorations taking on added meaning at a time of increased focus on race relations in the nation’s largest city.
Six months after Eric Garner, who is black, died in a white police officer’s chokehold, protests and speeches invoking his name provided a backdrop for the King commemorations.
Mayor Bill de Blasio supported the demonstrations that followed a Staten Island grand jury’s decision not to indict the officer, fracturing his relationship with the city’s police unions. He vowed that New York would emerge from the cauldron a more unified city.