Neal Kwatra, founder of Metropolitan Public Strategies (MPS), an innovative consulting agency that entwines strategic consulting, communications, research, content creation, and advertising to create successful social and political campaigns.
That background gives him a unique perspective on what the city endured from the middle of March, when the COVID-19 virus struck, and eventually killing over 23,000 New York City residents, to the aftermath of the protests over George Floyd's death at the hands of Minneapolis police. Videos on social media and television showed the city's ill-advised curfew enforcement which resulted in police misconduct against peaceful protesters and even civilians just trying to get home - and increased pressure on Mayor de Blasio.
De Blasio deemed the crisis of George Floyd's death on top of the coronavirus "a perfect storm wrapped in another perfect storm." But many others, including former de Blasio advisors and City Council members, charged that de Blasio's handling of the city's curfew enforcement tactics - and defense of police violence -- only further proved the mayor's lack of leadership.
"The most charitable assessment is that his mayoralty is currently on life support," Kwatra said at the time.
Brian Higgins, a former police chief in Bergen County, New Jersey, who teaches emergency management at John Jay College of Criminal Justice said that the very nature of enforcing a curfew would only deepen conflict between protestors and police.
De Blasio defended his curfew policy saying: "For anyone out there who is concerned or criticizing, I'm not sure they understand the depth of the reality of what we've faced. We have to keep the peace. We have to keep order. We have to protect our democracy and our democratic rights. We're striking that balance all the time."
But to prove Higgins' point, the public's dislike of the mayor intensified on June 3rd - the height of the clashes - when videos surfaced of the police brutality. The next day, the mayor attended and his wife, Chirlane McCray, attended Floyd's memorial service in Brooklyn. Both de Blasio and his wife were booed when introduced at the rally. The audience and some of the people on the stage, jeered, heckled, and repeatedly interrupted the mayor's 90-second speech. Yet McCray was not interrupted while talking and spoke twice as long as her husband.
The crowd warmly greeted Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who told the audience that leadership in all city, state, and federal governments is "wrong" for the times. He said he wished the mayor and governor would put more effort "into protecting the lives of black people" rather than property.
Mayor de Blasio's press secretary, Freddi Goldstein, tried to explain the mayor's actions at the memorial, saying he was there to pay his respects and listen.
The key questions are: Did he really hear what the crowd was saying, did he seriously look into the police tactics and how will the city respond the next time there are massive protests?
About Neal Kwatra
Neal Kwatra made history in his first year running Metropolitan Public Strategies (MPS) when leading Ken Thompson to victory as the first-ever African American to be elected Brooklyn District Attorney and the first challenger to defeat an incumbent D.A. in more than 100 years in Kings County.
