O Wire

The NYPD makes the public believe things that aren’t true. Back in the early 90s, there was a place called the Happy Lands Disco up in Harlem. One night there was a male Hispanic there who was upset with his girlfriend. He went into Happy Lands, which was an illegal social club where she was hanging out, and he torched the place. Something like 90 people died. One event, 90 homicides. The following year, Mayor Dinkins got on the air and said, “This year, homicides are down 32 percent.” Well of course homicides are down. The year before we’d had a huge mass murder! That’s how the NYPD practices subterfuge. They play with numbers. It’s PR spin.