Protestors Meet Giuliani at ARCO Forum

Rudolph W. Giuliani, the 107th mayor of New York City, was greeted by a calm student protest, a few staunch supporters, and hundreds of interested listeners when he arrived at the Kennedy School of Government's ARCO Forum last night to speak on "The New Urban Agenda."

Students outside the forum distributed flyers that said that Giuliani's policies have resulted in a 34.8 percent increase in civilians shot dead by the police, and a 53.3 percent increase in civilians who died in police custody.

In the face of the protest, a composed Giuliani outlined the decrease in crime and welfare rolls, an improvement in public education and the creation of jobs since he became mayor in 1994.

"Between 1990 and 1993, New York City averaged 2,000 murders a year and lost 300,000 private sector jobs, the largest loss since the Depression," Giuliani said.

He cited accountability as the major cause for the drop in crime under his administration.

"The city of New York now has had a massive decline in crime," Giuliani said. "One principle behind this has been accountability, the government willing to be measured."

"Even though we had the biggest problems because we had the biggest population," explained Giuliani, "because we had the biggest population, we also had the most talent to address the problems."

Giuliani, who is a Republican, spoke of the need for city mayors to be bipartisan.

"I believe it's important for the mayor to be independent, especially a mayor of a big city, not captive of the major parties," Giuliani said.

The mayor also discussed reforms in education, including a controversial policy that centralized city schools.

"For the first time in 28 years the chancellor [of public schools] was able to select the superintendents running the school districts," Giuliani said.

To prove the success of this program, Giuliani cited a 10 percent overall rise in public school performance.

Many students, however, protested Giuliani's claims. During the speech, a group of students stood up with posters that said "Crime is Down Everywhere Except for the NYPD" and "NYC Workfare: The New Urban Slavery."

Others held plungers-in view until the forum had ended-which was a reference to the alleged NYPD beating of a Haitian immigrant using a toilet plunger on Aug. 9.

"It's definitely ironic that he spoke of accountability when the police are not accountable to the community," said Justin P. Steil '00, one of the protesters.

Rosslyn Wuchinich '99, a New York native and another protester, said that she has seen evidence of harsh work conditions for people forced off the welfare rolls.

"Some are mothers who must leave their children without any care because the city government doesn't provide for them," Wuchinich said.

Wuchinich alleged that Giuliani made false claims of accountability on the issue of education. She said the mayor's policies have stripped city parents of decisionmaking power, leaving them with only an advisory role.

Other students, however, praised Giuliani's speech.

"I felt Mayor Giuliani conducted himself very well," Bradley L. Davis '00 said.

"I don't think you can hold Giuliani responsible for isolated incidents," Davis added, referring to the allegations of police brutality in the city.

Jacqueline A. Newmyer '01 disapproved of the some students' methods of protest of the event.

"I felt Giuliani was informative and insightful," Newmyer said. "The protesters' approach was immature and offensive. Their use of plungers was vile."

In the speech, Giuliani also speculated on what lies ahead for his administration.

"I think the biggest problem is drug dependency," Giuliani said. "But I believe we can reduce drug dependence, if we do it wisely and use the principle of accountability."