May 5, 2015 - Citizen Action of New York. Communities United for Police Reform. Hedge Clippers. Justice League of NYC. M
May 5, 2015 H. Dale Hemmerdinger, Chairman Susan L. Birnbaum, President & CEO New York City Police Foundation 555 Fifth Avenue, 15th Floor New York, NY 10017 Dear Chair Hemmerdinger and President Birnbaum: We write to raise serious concerns about the New York City Police Foundation accepting donations from asset management firm BlackRock and honoring its CEO Larry Fink at its May 6, 2015 Gala at the Waldorf Astoria. The firm’s significant investments in gun manufacturers and for-‐profit private prison corporations are contradictory to the public interest, and we urge you to reconsider bestowing an award to Mr. Fink and accepting contributions from BlackRock. BlackRock’s investments conflict with the best interests of our city’s public safety and its communities. The asset manager is a top investor in gun manufacturers, like Smith & Wesson which is one of the largest gun manufacturers in the country. BlackRock was named #2 on the Dirty Dozen list of biggest New York City-‐based gun company investors, released in 2013 by then-‐Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. After being exposed on this list, Fink pledged to set up funds that would no longer invest in gun companies, but BlackRock is still heavily investing in gun manufacturers, with the value of its investments in Smith & Wesson actually higher, at $31 million, than it was in 2013. The proliferation of illegal guns throughout our country is directly impacting the safety of New Yorkers in significant ways. The crisis of gun violence is continuing at high levels, propelled by illegal gun trafficking and impacting communities and our entire city. Gun violence is disproportionately impacting Black communities in New York City and throughout our nation. A clear, recent example of the gun proliferation problem: the illegal gun recently used in the killing of a NYPD officer was one of 23 guns stolen from a Georgia pawnshop in 2011, nine of which have ended up in our city, according to the NYPD. The notion that the New York City Police Foundation would honor the CEO of a company that is a major investor in gun manufacturers, as gun violence continues to ravage our city and communities, is perplexing. BlackRock is also a top investor in private prison corporations, like Corrections Corporation of America and The GEO Group, with stakes worth about $300 million in each company. The Police Foundation’s connection to BlackRock and honoring of its CEO raises serious questions about the influence the asset management firm wields in perpetuating its interest in a cycle of incarceration that fuels the prison industrial complex. In the last three decades, the number of people incarcerated in America has quadrupled from roughly 500,000 to 2.3 million people, with the U.S. making up 5% of the world population but 25% of the world’s prisoners. Black people in this country make up nearly 1 million of the total incarcerated population, detained at nearly six times the rate of whites. The dysfunctional criminal justice system promotes and perpetuates the severe inequities within our country,
and these corporations and their private interests are largely responsible through their exercise of undue influence on public policies. There are already significant issues regarding the transparency and accountability of the New York Police Foundation, as a non-‐profit organization that raises funds for a public agency without the same levels of disclosure. It was recently revealed that the foundation received $1 million in funding from the United Arab Emirates, after a media outlet uncovered internal documents. Serious questions have been raised about how the activities of the foundation and its donors are impacting contracting decisions, public policy, and more broadly the public interest. New York City residents should be certain that their city agencies are advancing the public interest, and these privately-‐intertwined interests shake public confidence. They also raise questions about the private interests of other donors to the foundation, and whether those run counter to the interests of everyday New Yorkers. At a time when a movement of people in this country is demanding accountability for police departments to ensure they are truly serving the public interest, your activities to honor Mr. Fink and accept BlackRock funding are strikingly inappropriate. As an organization so closely tied to a New York City government agency, you should take these concerns seriously. We are available to meet with you to discuss the details of these conflicts directly. Please contact us with any questions and follow-‐up matters. Sincerely, Citizen Action of New York Communities United for Police Reform Hedge Clippers Justice League of NYC Million Hoodies Movement for Justice New York Communities for Change Picture the Homeless St. Ann’s Corner of Harm Reduction The Public Science Project VOCAL New York Cc: Mayor Bill de Blasio Speaker Melissa Mark-‐Viverito Council Member Jumaane D. Williams, Co-‐chair of Taskforce to Combat Gun Violence Council Member Vanessa Gibson, Chair of Committee on Public Safety Council Member Fernando Cabrera, Co-‐chair of Taskforce to Combat Gun Violence NYPD Commissioner William Bratton ###
