In June of 2020, New York City was reeling as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, an extraordinary medical emergency that some believed might also require severe cuts to city services at precisely the time when so many ordinary people were already hurting. Uncertainty loomed over the city’s finances while the deadline for a new budget approached, and just then a series of global protests against police violence followed the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others. In NYC, activists occupied a park across from City Hall demanding deep cuts to the NYPD and more money for other services. This talk revisits that moment in recent history and investigates some of the larger historical forces that made the budget process a site to focus protests and calls to reimagine the city and society.

Event Speaker

Dan Bouk, Associate Professor of History at Colgate University

Event Information

Free and open to the public; registration required. Contact scienceandsociety@columbia.edu or historyofscience@nyu.edu for questions.

This event is part of the New York History of Science Lecture Series.

Sponsoring Organizations:

• Columbia University in the City of New York
• NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study
• The Graduate Center, City University of New York
• The New York Academy of Medicine
• The New York Academy of Sciences