DISGRACIE MANSION
It’s the “People’s House” — they just can’t go near it.
Gracie Mansion has turned into a heavily barricaded fortress where NYPD blockades enclose more than an acre of green space surrounding Mayor de Blasio’s residence, fed-up Upper East Siders charge.
The mayoral manse has been swarming with NYPD officers, cars and equipment since the George Floyd protests erupted at the end of May, but while the demonstrations have dwindled, the security remains.
“It’s fairly absurd. Presumably it’s to stop protesters, but the barricades will be up at 9 a.m. on a Wednesday. They come and go seemingly at whim,” said East 77th Street resident Roy Atwood, 29, who runs along the East River Esplanade daily and is often deterred by the metal fencing.
“The mayor closes streets for restaurants to open and people to have more space, but blocks off the public park around himself. It’s a frustrating use of power, and it doesn’t seem to make any sense,” Atwood said.
“Has anyone seen what the mayor’s done to Gracie Mansion?? A third of Carl Schurz Park is cut off to the community,” seething Upper East Sider Judy Rybak tweeted Monday, along with a video of barricades stretching hundreds of feet down East End Avenue.
Councilman Ben Kallos, who represents Yorkville, said his office has received “dozens” of complaints about the barricades.
“Families who didn’t abandon our city, families who stayed, feel frustrated they don’t have anywhere they can go because Gracie has barricaded off an acre of our limited parkland.
“Gracie Mansion is already fortified. They have already increased the height of the fences,” Kallos said, referring to the 4-foot addition de Blasio erected in 2014 for “privacy” reasons.
The mayor on Tuesday claimed that the NYPD was “reducing some of the precautions that were put in place previously.”
“I can certainly say around Gracie Mansion, people have access to the water constantly,” he told reporters.
Carl Schurz parkgoers were confronted with a different reality just a day later.
On Wednesday at 7 p.m., a 300foot span of the walkway along the East River was blocked off. A detour back to the Esplanade led people traveling in either direction to a flight of steps and back out to East End Avenue.
“Anyone using a wheelchair, stroller or bike can’t continue,” Atwood observed.
By Friday at 6 p.m., when the park was swarming with people enjoying the mild weather, two swaths of green space in front of the mansion — the Mayor’s Lawn and Flagpole Lawn — were blocked off to the public, along with the surrounding walkways and benches.
When asked about the barricades, de Blasio’s office pointed to his support for protesters.
“The mayor always protects the First Amendment right to protest. Some barricades have been set-up by the NYPD in relationship to unscheduled and scheduled protests in the area. The park is open and we encourage New Yorkers to continue visiting beautiful Carl Schurz Park,” spokesman Avery Cohen said.