Tompkinsville barber Daniel Ewing said it seems like yesterday that Eric Garner was sitting in his chair, but it was July 17, 2014.
“He came, wanted to get it cut,” Ewing recalled. “He’d just get his normal cut, a shave. I laid him back. He immediately [falls] asleep because he has sleep apnea, so would get a kick out of that. After I’m done with him, he left. About 10 minutes later, I found out what happened.”
What You Need To Know
- Those who work and live in Tompkinsville, Staten Island, say police were hands-off immediately after Eric Garner’s killing
- The nonprofit Staten Island Urban Center started a campaign after Garner’s death to heal the community by getting them involved in activities from gardening to farmer’s markets in the park across the street
- Garner’s presence is always felt at the street across from where he was killed, which was renamed with a mural and plaque
Because of cellphone video, the world would soon know what happened just steps away in front of 202 Bay Street.
Cops tried to arrest him for allegedly selling loose, untaxed cigarettes and former NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo used a banned chokehold to take him down.
His dying cry, “I can’t breathe,” became a slogan of the Black Lives Matter movement, which gained more momentum, and Tompkinsville, Staten Island, saw immediate change.
“Immediately after Eric’s death, the nature of the way [the] police engaged with us. And when I say us, I mean our community was almost hands off,” Kelly Vilar, the CEO of the nonprofit Staten Island Urban Center, said. “They were afraid to talk to us, we were afraid to talk to them.”
Vilar’s group is dedicated to environmental, criminal and social justice through community involvement. It moved in just steps from the scene a couple of years after.
“We have launched a campaign quite a while back, a campaign for peace, justice and healing,” Vilar said. “Because after Eric’s killing, we needed all three.”
The Urban Center holds events in the park right across the street to get the entire neighborhood involved. Those who own businesses said they have seen a difference.
“It’s not as aggressive I guess now, the policing,” Against Da Grain barbershop owner Sean White said. “Because the area’s rough, it’s a rough area. You know. So, somebody from the outside is gonna look at it different. Maybe be too aggressive, but we’re people, we’re regular people.”
But there is one thing that hasn’t changed with time.
“Working in this area there’s always the presence of Eric Garner,” White said. “It’s always referred to as Eric Garner’s area. It just [doesn’t] seem like that much time passed by.”