Council Member Danny Dromm (John McCarten, NYC Council via Flickr)
June 19, 2020 By Michael Dorgan
Council Member Danny Dromm has condemned the actions of a large group of protesters who demonstrated outside his home Thursday afternoon.
Around 100 Democratic Socialists converged outside his apartment building in Jackson Heights and demanded that the NYPD budget be slashed in half, Dromm said.
The protesters were yelling and shouting for about an hour on the roadway. Some held signs that read “defund the police,” “black lives matter,” and other DSA themed wording, he said.
“They were screaming ‘either you come down or we will come up’ to your apartment,” Dromm told the Queens Post.
Two protesters got into his apartment building and made their way up to Dromm’s second-floor apartment, he said.
The pair then banged on his apartment door while the chanting continued outside, he said.
“I believe this was totally inappropriate, violated my privacy and was probably illegal,” he said.
He said they were then thrown out of the building by the porter.
Dromm said he did not feel threatened but believed the protesters’ actions were not friendly and crossed a line.
“I have been an activist for LGBT rights for decades and we would never protest outside someone’s home,” he said.
Dromm said he is mystified that the crowd targeted him for police defunding given that he has already called for $1 billion to be cut from the $6 billion NYPD budget.
“I am miffed at why they would choose to protest an ally,” he said.
Dromm said he proposed the $1 billion cuts – along with House Speaker Corey Johnson and Council Member Vanessa Gibson – before any of the recent Black Lives Matter protests erupted around the country.
“At the time it was unheard of and I’m not sure they understand the whole process,” Dromm said.
Dromm is the chairperson of the NYC Council Committee on Finance which reviews and modifies the city budget and municipal fiscal policy.
However, the mayor typically proposes the city’s annual budget and the city council then negotiates with the mayor on spending. The mayor has proposed a 0.4 percent ($24 million) cut to the NYPD budget for FY2021 budget, Dromm said.
Dromm said the protesters have never asked for a meeting with him, or called into his district office which is located close by.
He said the entire protest was misguided and damaged their cause. He said the protesters were not well-received by his neighbors, constituents and other legislators.
“It cost the Democratic Socialists validity in the eyes of most of my constituents,” he said.
Dromm took to Twitter to call out the protesters yesterday and specifically urged Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a DSA member, to condemn their actions.
“She is a leader and a figurehead and should speak out against this type of behavior,” he said.
Ocasio-Cortez has not responded to Dromm’s appeal. Queens Post contacted the congresswoman’s office for comment but has yet to receive a response.
I’m calling on @AOC to condemn this action. Totally inappropriate to do this outside my home. As they screamed “Daniel, you either come down or we’ll come up” two @nycDSA members entered my building & began pounding on my apt. door demanding to be let in. Porter threw them out. https://t.co/uO1W9xLAqi
— Daniel Dromm (@Dromm25) June 18, 2020
State Senator Julia Salazar, a member of DSA, spoke out against the tactics employed by the protesters on Twitter.
“I don’t think it’s strategic or constructive to aggressively knock on the door of CM Dromm’s home!” she tweeted.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Council Member Danny Dromm at the St Pats For All Parade 2020 (Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)
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15 Comments
Sweets for the sweet…this is what you get when you encourage radicals and anti-government behavior…maybe he should of tried calling the police he bashes constantly https://twitter.com/Dromm25/status/1257486607051100161
Hahaha..The RATicals are turning on each other..How predictable!!
Out of curiosity, are you naming yourself after this Jeff Davis?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Davis
Jefferson Finis Davis[a] (June 3, 1808 – December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. As a member of the Democratic Party, he represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives before the American Civil War. He previously served as the United States Secretary of War from 1853 to 1857 under President Franklin Pierce.
Should have called the Police..Sorry I’m mistaken..Maybe you should have called a social worker to talk to the angry mob!!!
Wow
Lefties threatening their own
I’m
Sure Dromm will still vote for Ocasio-Cortez
Hashtagger- Two dimensional hashtagger. Right, left, conservative, liberal, black, white, good, bad, you see the trend. Your posts are inane boring and an obvious exercise in narcissism. You don’t enlighten nor entertain. It’s just the same old same old with you.
Bunch of agitators in these crowds. You can spot the uneducated ones, protestor should weed them out before they start seeing harsher respond.
Protests don’t belong in small Queens streets, take it up to great lawns or open spaces of they want more support.
This legislators and council members preach and pass legislation endangering law abiding citizens, encouraging criminals and radicals, but don’t like it when they come knocking on their own door. Hypocrisy at the highest level.
The chickens come home to roost.
You lie down with dogs etc… Eating their own this early in the revolution is unprecedented. The Bolsheviks would not approve.
This is mob mentality, not just protesting. Dromm is right: AOC needs to condemn this kind of action. So does JVB and BdB.
And don’t wait until after the primary.
in todays world, you scream the loudest or post the most hateful vile things in social media until people are scared enough to comply. this is how immature kids act today to deal with things. they are incapable of listening to another point of view.
very few issues in life can be resolved this way, grow up
you want change? get you radical socialist friends to get out and vote, not scream.
Well done democrats. The Frankenstein monster you created is literally banging at your door.
Pass me the popcorn.
I love it when the left eats their own
Danny can send for social workers