Posted on June 19, 2016 by Daniel Denvir in Salon Salon, By Daniel Denvir Living on the streets of East Harlem, Jazmin Berges wasn’t surprised to watch NYPD officers dump her belongings into a garbage truck. It was last summer, and police had demanded that she and her friends, sitting in Marcus Garvey Park, leave. When Berges, according to her account, protested that they weren’t causing any trouble, officers told her to “shut up;” they then confiscated a pushcart containing her clothes, blankets and a Bible, and destroyed it. Berges didn’t interfere. She knew they would have arrested her had she tried. Advocates say that Berges’ experience is commonplace amid a widespread police crackdown in the neighborhood.
