Photo Courtesy of Edwin Torres/Mayoral Photography Office
Mayor de Blasio this week hosted a roundtable with faith leaders and pledged to protect any initiatives that may be at risk during Donald Trump’s presidency.
By Michael V. Cusenza
Mayor Bill de Blasio this week led a discussion with faith leaders from across the five boroughs to, as Hizzoner characterized it, “reinforce the administration’s commitment to protect initiatives that may be at risk during Donald Trump’s presidency.”
Joined on Monday in the City Hall Blue Room by Community Affairs Commissioner Marco Carrión, Corporation Counsel Zachary Carter, NYPD Community Affairs Chief Joanne Jaffe, and City Commission on Human Rights Commissioner Carmelyn Malalis, de Blasio pledged that the City will defend civil and human rights, and that the federal government cannot reinstate stop and frisk in NYC.
The mayor urged all who attended the hour-long confab to “fight nationally and act locally.”
Clergy who attended the closed-press event included members of the Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh religions. According to the administration, the faith leaders expressed concerns in the representation of their congregants – most notably as it relates to the city’s undocumented residents and young people who are expressing fear and uncertainty about their future.
De Blasio met with President-elect Trump on Wednesday afternoon. The mayor described the 62-minute sit-down as “respectful, substantive, and very candid.”
“I tried to express to [Trump] how much fear there is, how much fear there is in communities all over this city – a whole range of people in the biggest city in the country who are fearful about this current dynamic and how we need to see things that will give people more assurance that all New Yorkers and all Americans will be respected,” de Blasio added.
