"Tonight alive, let's describe the inscrutable
The indisputable, we New York the narcotic
Strength in metal and fiber optics
Where mercenaries is paid to trade hot stock tips
For profits, thirsty criminals take pockets
Hard knuckles on the second hands of working class watches
Skyscrapers is colossus, the cost of living is preposterous
We stay alive, you play or die, no options
No Batman and Robin, can't tell between the cops and the robbers
They both partners, they all heartless
With no conscience, back streets stay darkened
Where unbeliever hearts stay hardened
My eagle talons STAY sharpened, like city lights stay throbbing
You either make a way or stay sobbing
The Shiny Apple is bruised but sweet and if you choose to eat
You could lose your teeth, many crews retreat
Nightly news repeat, who got shot down and locked down
Spotlight to savages, NASDAQ averages
My narrative, rose to explain this existence
Amidst the harbor lights which remain in the distance"
The indisputable, we New York the narcotic
Strength in metal and fiber optics
Where mercenaries is paid to trade hot stock tips
For profits, thirsty criminals take pockets
Hard knuckles on the second hands of working class watches
Skyscrapers is colossus, the cost of living is preposterous
We stay alive, you play or die, no options
No Batman and Robin, can't tell between the cops and the robbers
They both partners, they all heartless
With no conscience, back streets stay darkened
Where unbeliever hearts stay hardened
My eagle talons STAY sharpened, like city lights stay throbbing
You either make a way or stay sobbing
The Shiny Apple is bruised but sweet and if you choose to eat
You could lose your teeth, many crews retreat
Nightly news repeat, who got shot down and locked down
Spotlight to savages, NASDAQ averages
My narrative, rose to explain this existence
Amidst the harbor lights which remain in the distance"
The above quote comes from rapper Mos Def off the song “Respiration.” Released in 1998 on the album Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Blackstar, many hip-hop enthusiasts consider this verse as one of Mos Def’s best. The appeal of his words comes from his illustration of life in New York City in the late 1990s. Specifically, Mos Def presented listeners with his images of crime, corruption, greed, fear, and apathy created by the media, increased police presence, and growing gap between the have’s and have-not’s during an alleged economic boom. Credit for this New York environment is given to former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and his administration. His premise in handling crime in New York was to crackdown on the minor crimes and increase police presence throughout the city. This strategy would serve to deter all crime and decrease the crime rate in the city.
According to statistics collected during his administration, the crime rate in New York did decrease. However, critics claimed that since the police were the ones responsible for providing the statistics, police officers often underreported the crime stats. Furthermore, there were multiple high-profile cases of police brutality during the Giuliani era, which many rappers from New York often referenced in their music even though the stories did not get national coverage. Many people forget that before the September 11 attacks, Giuliani’s popularity was plummeting due to his policies as well as controversy involving his personal life. September 11 allowed him to save face and legitimized his policies on police presence throughout the city. Depending on whom you talk to about him, Giuliani’s New York City was either a blessing or a curse. When I moved to New York, I would talk to one person and he or she would complain about how fun New York used to be before Giuliani came in. I would then talk to another person, and they would say how bad the city was before Giuliani came in. In fact, on my first job, a co-worker explained to me Giuliani’s plan. After he was finished, the first statement that I made was, “Sounds like a police state to me.” In response, the co-worker emphasized that in order to feel safe, such measures are necessary.
If you could point to one reason why New Yorkers accepted this form of law enforcement, it would be the subject of Ken Burns’ documentary The Central Park Five. The movie tells the story of 5 Black and Latino teenagers (Yusef Salaam, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, and Kharey Wise), who in 1989, were arrested, indicted, and found guilty of raping and assaulting a 28-year-old investment banker named Trisha Meili, who was jogging in Central Park at the time. The documentary mostly focuses on the controversy surrounding the investigation and the trials for the alleged rape and assault. Specifically, the movie provides a glimpse of the media coverage during that time as well as the problems with the evidence collected against the 5 defendants. While the District Attorney’s office eventually vacated the convictions due to newly discovered evidence, the public reaction was vastly different from when they were convicted.
In many documentaries, the filmmakers opt to have someone narrate the film and directly inject his opinion/agenda (*cough* Michael Moore *cough cough*). At the end of the day, that is usually the filmmaker’s point of making the film, so you can’t be mad about it. What makes The Central Park Five appealing is that the main narrators are the victims themselves. Burns and Co. rely on the 5 teenagers (now grown men in their 30s) to discuss the environment in which they grew up; their fears, anger, confusion, and desperation during their interrogation; and the traumatic experiences they faced during and after completing their prison sentences. The first part of the movie even shows snippets of their recorded confessions, allowing you to see them while they are 14 and 16 years old trying to grasp the seriousness of their predicament with their young, immature minds. While the New York media vilified these guys as heartless savages for their alleged crimes, people forgot that these guys were just kids. I remember being 14 years old. If a bunch of New York police officers were yelling at me, threatening me to confess to the crime in exchange for my release, and denying me food and sleep for over 24 hours, then I might react the same way. I am sure that their race and the victim’s race (5 black and latino kids accused of raping a white woman) factored into their treatment and perception. When I think about my experiences in New York, I was astounded how New Yorkers consider themselves so much more progressive, especially compared to the South. I watch this movie, and I see that New York has just as many flaws and demons as Mississippi and Alabama. At least other states hone up to it for the most part, while New York acts like it never happened. Sometimes New York needs to look into the mirror and quit pointing fingers at everyone else.
Besides the racial issues surrounding the case, it also affects me as an attorney. I could not help but yell (figuratively, not literally) at the screen when each of them was speaking to the police without an attorney or even their parents. According to the law, all you have to do is say that you want an attorney, and the police officers must cease questioning you. That is all they had to do, and things could have been so different. I also could not believe that the confessions made it past pre-trial hearings and that some of their attorneys did not even contest whether the confessions were given voluntarily or not. One commentator stated in the movie that everyone failed in handling this case, including the attorneys for the 5 defendants. You cannot help but think the same. I could understand the pressure that the media had created, but you still have a job to represent your client zealously.
Even if you did not go to law school, there are some lasting images from this film. One of the jurors on the first trial opened up on how the other jurors pressured him into a guilty verdict even though he did not believe they were guilty. The District Attorney’s treatment of the case was also shocking despite the weak evidence present, but it does not compare to the overall apathy of the media when the 5 defendants’ convictions were vacated, compared to the media frenzy that took place after their arrest. The one image that I cannot shake is the then mayor of New York, the late Ed Koch, publicly dismissing whether the 5 suspects were “innocent until proven guilty” and basically saying that the trial is merely a formality. The fact that the New York media is celebrating his legacy after seeing this just shows how he truly reflected public sentiment at the time. Honestly, it was probably the most shocking and disappointing part of the movie. Burns does not paint these guys as saints, and they should not be. The Central Park Five do not paint themselves as saints. They were in the park at the time, and some were part of some criminal activity there. However, they all maintain that they were not part of this crime, but the city of New York branded them as guilty before they even stepped into the courtroom. That is the injustice that took place, and it is a scarlet letter that should remain on the city of New York for a long time.
This is the first time that I was sincerely pissed off after watching a documentary. I wanted to slap every police officer I saw after this, and it made me question the legal system even more than I already did. If you don’t mind feeling that way, then I would recommend this movie to you. Unless you lived in New York City at that time and truly believe in their guilt, then you will likely be pissed off after watching this. If anything, The Central Park Five is a great cinematic slice of New York City history that puts a contrasting light on a city that prides itself on its progressive views. After living in both the North and the South, I realize that as much as people point out their differences, we are not that different, even with our racial and social injustices. Where you live just determines whether you need to wear a jacket or not.
