Man's Arrest In East Harlem Raises Questions About Policing

EAST HARLEM, NY — Footage of police officers taking an impaired man into custody in East Harlem last weekend is drawing scrutiny for the officers' conduct, and reignited debates over the NYPD's role in responding to health crises.

Neighbor Stephanie Estevez shot the video around 5:30 p.m. Saturday, while she was walking home from the gym. Estevez said she saw the unidentified man sitting on the curb on East 116th Street near Lexington Avenue, slowly flailing his arms in the air as others looked on.

"It was very apparent that he was high," she said. "But he was by no means a threat to anyone. By looking at him, I felt completely comfortable being as close as I was to him."

Still, within minutes, five police officers pulled up, and after briefly talking amongst themselves, placed the man in handcuffs and laid him down on the sidewalk. Two of the officers, including the one restraining the man, were not wearing face masks.

Estevez tried to intervene, asking officers why the man was being handcuffed "when what he needs is help, not to be in jail."

In response, she said, the female officer handling the man shouted: "Get out, this is none of your business, no one wants you here."

Seconds later, Estevez approached a second officer and asked the same question.

"I'm not here to debate the merits of whether junkies need to be in the criminal system or not with you," the man replied, using a term considered dehumanizing by some addiction advocates. "You could've stayed back and watched and filmed with your little camera, like you were doing, but you had to make a point of coming and asking a question and getting involved."

At that point, Estevez said, she grew so enraged that she walked away to avoid escalating the situation further.

East Harlem needs public health solutions to a public health crisis. People need help and we must respond with proper support, not with arrests and force. I call on the @NYPD25Pct commander to discuss the concerns of this incident. (2/2)
— Robert J. Rodriguez (@_rjayrodriguez) January 24, 2021

"Really disappointing"

An NYPD spokesperson said officers had been flagged down by "numerous individuals" who said the man was acting erratically and possibly under the influence of drugs.

"The male was not arrested but was transported to a local hospital," the spokesperson said. Police did not respond to questions about whether the unmasked officers were breaking department rules.

Estevez's video of the incident has circulated widely since she posted it on Twitter Saturday evening, renewing a discussion that flared up during last summer's protests over whether police should respond to drug use and mental health crises.

That debate has been especially fraught in East Harlem, which has been plagued for years by visible drug use on neighborhood streets, but where some community leaders are divided over the role police should play.

Assemblymember Robert Rodriguez said he was especially disheartened by the video because local leaders had worked to dispatch NYPD mobile crisis teams, homeless outreach workers and other specialists into the neighborhood, to avoid having uniformed police serve as first responders.

"We’ve tried to put in some supports so that they are not [first to respond]," Rodriguez told Patch on Monday. His office planned to discuss the incident with the NYPD's 25th Precinct later that day.

City Councilmember Diana Ayala, who has at times resisted calls to reduce the police presence in the neighborhood, called the incident "really disappointing."

This is really disappointing. This is not the way to handle these situations, and my office has already reached out to the local pct about this. We are in the midst of a serious opiod crisis that demands a human approach to dealing with those in need of help. This is not it.
— Diana Ayala (@DianaAyalaNYC) January 25, 2021

"This is not the way to handle these situations, and my office has already reached out to the local [precinct] about this," she wrote on Twitter. "We are in the midst of a serious [opioid] crisis that demands a human approach to dealing with those in need of help. This is not it."

Estevez said she wants the officers to face accountability for not wearing face masks, and for using what she considers excessive force. And she remains angered by "the level of aggression" the officers showed toward her, a resident of the community they serve.

"They're public servants," she said. "They're here to answer to us."

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• Mayor Visits East Harlem Blocks Troubled By Drug Use
• 125th Street Cleanup Shows Progress In East Harlem