February 24, 2020

The Real Mike Bloomberg
A Letter from New Yorkers of Color

Dear Voters & Communities in Super Tuesday States and Beyond:

We, the undersigned, representing families of New Yorkers killed by the New York PoliceDepartment, community leaders, elected officials, and other New Yorkers of color write with an urgent message:

We lived under a Bloomberg administration. We urge you NOT to reward Bloomberg with your vote. His governing record in New York — a period that lasted 12 years, because he used his wealth and influence to change the law and give himself an additional term —was abysmal and destructive.

Although Bloomberg is running in the Democratic primary, he has a long history with theRepublican party, as a former candidate and financial contributor. While in office, he advanced a Republican policy agenda that ushered in an era of skyrocketing economic, racial and social inequality in New York City.

In recent days, Michael Bloomberg has attempted to rewrite his legacy, but we haven’t forgotten. The following are just a few examples of Bloomberg’s devastating impact on our families and communities in New York:

• Expanded and championed the NYPD’s racist stop & frisks, which increased by over 600% during Bloomberg’s mayoralty. Bloomberg fought efforts to end it in court, insulted the woman judge who ruled the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk tactics unconstitutional, vetoed efforts by the City Council to reform the NYPD and sued after the Council over-rode his vetoes. The extent of harm, humiliation and terror that the Bloomberg administration’s daily racial profiling and police violence caused in Black, Latinx and other communities of color cannot be overstated – his belated “apology” after over a decade of championing the discriminatory practices doesn’t even begin to acknowledge or repair the ongoing harms. Bloomberg’s stop & frisk policy was praised by Trump and other racists and right- wingers.

• Instituted a system of mass warrantless surveillance of Muslim communities in the New York City metro area—a program that led to exactly zero leads and resulted in mass fear, mistrust and trauma in Muslim communities that continues to this day. The policy was cited by Republican candidates for president in 2016 as a model to follow nationwide, and established a philosophical foundation where the idea of a Muslim ban could be fostered.

• Bloomberg’s racist policing also included more arrests for marijuana possession than under the three prior mayors combined – with over 50% of these arrests targeting young people under 21 who were saddled with the permanent consequences of a criminal arrest record. Even though young whites use marijuana at higher rates, over 85% of the people arrested and jailed for marijuana possession were Black and Latinx.

• In his own words, he sought to make New York City into a “luxury product.” He canceled funding for the Advantage program (a rent program that provided housing support to hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers transitioning out of homeless shelters). He sought to block homeless single adults from accessing shelters, which was blocked by state court. He promoted massive rezonings of the city and housing policies that spurred an affordability crisis, and accelerated displacement and gentrification of our communities. Bloomberg’s policies led to the largest homeless population in New York City since the Great Depression. At the same time, his administration ignored public housing to the point of facilitating a lead contamination scandal and causing buildings to deteriorate.

• Bloomberg’s refusal to acknowledge the role big banks played in the subprime mortgage lending scandal and opposition to efforts to hold them accountable contributed to a foreclosure crisis that led homeowners of color in working class New York City neighborhoods to lose their homes and wealth. This exacerbated a housing crisis that continues to this day.

• Not so different from the Trump administration’s efforts to deny federal food assistance to poor Americans now, Mayor Bloomberg stridently maintained the evidence-lacking, right-wing position – in policy and rhetoric – that food stamp applicants should be fingerprinted. He was unrelenting despite immense opposition and evidence that it discourages the hungry and poor from seeking help. New York City remained the only place in the state, and one of only two localities in the nation, to continue with such a policy. Bloomberg also fought efforts to change the policy, until state government ended the ability for New York City to continue with it.

• As Mayor, Bloomberg closed 157 schools in Black and Brown communities, disregarding and dismissing the demands of thousands of Black and Brown parents, students and families that he invest in and improve those schools rather than closing them. He closed these schools while he diverted tens of millions of dollars annually away from needy public schools in order to fund the 173 privately run charter schools opened under his administration.

• Bloomberg promoted a test and punish regimen in public schools where high stakes tests were misused to shame and punish teachers, defund and close schools, and prevent students from advancing in their education. This is despite the fact that research shows that these are invalid and inappropriate use of these tests.

• Bloomberg was so committed to running schools like a corporation that he appointed magazine publisher Cathie Black to run the New York City school system, the nation’s largest, despite the fact that she had zero qualifications. After a series of incidents where she insulted Black and Latinx parents, including suggesting that the solution to school overcrowding was birth control, she was forced to resign.

These examples are the tip of the iceberg — we could write books that would fill libraries about the harm that Bloomberg caused New Yorkers — harm that has lasting effects to today.

Since his mayoralty, Bloomberg has continued to use his wealth to attack working and middle- class people. He has made clear that he does not support a minimum wage; used transphobic language to describe trans people; and he continues to be plagued by allegations of sexist remarks and sexual misconduct at Bloomberg LP, a company that he ran and currently owns. Bloomberg has spent millions of his own money to influence elections around the country in order to promote school privatization, high stakes testing and teacher bashing.

As more voters of color begin to have their say in the Democratic presidential primaries, we hope that you’ll heed our advice: stay away from Mike Bloomberg. After four years of Trump, the last thing our country needs is someone who will champion racist and discriminatory policies, exacerbate economic inequality, and undermine democracy with his wealth.

Sincerely,

(Add your name here, and see full list of signers below)