Queens leaders call on state to repeal 50-a at Borough Hall rally

Queens elected officials, including U.S. Rep. Grace Meng, Councilmember Donovan Richards, Assemblymember Alicia Hyndman and State Sen. John Liu raised their hands in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement outside Borough Hall Thursday. Eagle photo by Rachel Vick

By Rachel Vick and David Brand

Nearly two dozen Queens elected officials gathered outside Borough Hall Thursday to call on the state legislature to repeal a section of New York law that shields police disciplinary records from public view.

The law, known as 50-a, has faced renewed scrutiny after the NYPD used aggressive force — at times beating, pushing and pepper-spraying peaceful protesters — during demonstrations ignited by the police killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man in Minnesota. Lawmakers will return to Albany next week for a likely vote to repeal or drastically overhaul the measure. 

“There’s no form of protest that white supremacy will approve of,” said Assemblymember Alicia Hyndman before a gathering of about 100 Queens residents and activist organizations. “We have to legislate our way to freedom.” 

Hyndman stood alongside fellow members of the New York State Black, Latino, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus, as well other local elected officials, including U.S. Reps. Gregory Meeks and Grace Meng and District Attorney Melinda Katz. 

The leaders also called on the city and state to criminalize police chokeholds, create an office of the special prosecutor and compel law enforcement officers to wear body cameras. 

State Sen. John Liu, who marched with constituents from his Northeast Queens district to Borough Hall, condemned leaders who have attempted to neuter the Black Lives Matter movement, which has galvanized a week of demonstrations in New York City and around the world.  

“We say ‘Black Lives Matter’ because it’s always a black life handcuffed, disabled on the ground and is still choked to death,” Liu said, referencing the international human rights movement that has grown in response to systemic racism and police killings of black Americans.  

“Anyone who says all lives matter ... you should instead embrace and understand how Black Lives Matter came to be in the first place.”