Manhattan Bridge Shutdown

Manhattan Bridge Shutdown

This photo, taken on April 25, 1995, features a line of protestors blocking traffic on the Manhattan Bridge as they protest police brutality and budget cuts. Many of these protesters wear or carry signs with messages such as “Stop Racist Violence” and other calls for justice. This group includes members of CAAAV and stands close together to project a sense of unity, but there are public demonstrations in three other parts of the city as well. Overall, hundreds of people are participating in this call to end police brutality and protect financing going to public education and low-income residents in both Manhattan and across the city.

On March 24, almost exactly a month before this photo, 16-year-old Yong Xin Huang was shot by the police. He and two of his friends had been playing with a BB gun and the police had been summoned by a nervous neighbor; when confronted by the police, Huang and his friends cooperated with the police but Huang was killed in the encounter. Huang’s death sparked many protests against police brutality, especially regarding abuse towards poor communities of color. This, combined with a series of budget cuts targeting public schools and universities, prompted CAAAV and the National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights to organize this Manhattan Bridge takeover along with a rally against police brutality in Police Plaza.

A variety of people joined these protests including students, teachers, health care workers, homeless folks, AIDS activists, and the loved ones of those who had been killed by the police. Other people joined as members of various groups. In addition to CAAAV, organizations such as ACT UP and CUNY Coalition Against Cuts made their voices heard. Demonstrators spread out across the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge, the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, and the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. By the end of the event, roughly 185 peaceful protesters were arrested under disorderly conduct charges after gridlocking the four locations during the height of rush hour. While the protest was short-lived, only lasting about half an hour, the demonstration garnered attention from both media outlets and thousands of commuters who were directly impacted.

With the recent resurgence in Black Lives Matter activism and protests following George Floyd’s murder in May 2020, many people have become more educated on the ways in which police brutality and other means of suppression are prevalent in society. This event from 1995 offers a glimpse into how long individuals and organizations have been attempting to demand an end to these enduring problems of police brutality, unjust bureaucratic management, and systematic violence as a whole.

April 25, 1995

Phoebe Jacoby

This post was completed as coursework for Archiving Asian America, taught by Vivian Truong, in the Asian and American Studies programs at Vassar College.

Copyright is held by CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities.

Photograph

Photo427