New Yorkers gathered in groups across the city on Tuesday night to celebrate the conviction of former police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis in the murder of George Floyd.
Cheers and chatter erupted around the Big Apple – from Harlem to Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn – when the conviction came down.
“I was in my house watching the news and we were all shouting, ‘Yes! ” Beatrice Samuel, 29, of Flatbush, told The Post.
She was one of hundreds who moved to Barclays Center after the decision – including director Spike Lee, who has been noticed ready on his bike and said hello to passerbys.
Hours later, several marches through the city were underway, with some protesters coming from Brooklyn across the Manhattan Bridge, and others marching from Times Square to Washington Square Park.
Some celebrated at Barclays by dancing after “Fight the Power” by Public Enemy, the footage showed on Twitter.
“I’m happy! I’ll take a chance on taking this trial,” said Sharissee Maxwell, 28, of Fort Greene.
Mayoral candidate Maya Wiley spoke to the crowd at Barclays and told them, “This verdict is a moment of justice for the country – what we do next is up to us.”
The group, which has grown to about a thousand, then marched through downtown Brooklyn to and across the Manhattan Bridge, and a people “abolition” and “can not bring about justice. Only revolution. ”
Public Defender Jumaane Williams told protesters on the corner of Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues: “We have a small piece of liability … but I do not think it heals a wound.”
Meanwhile, dozens of protesters gathered at the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. office in Harlem – and erupted in ecstasy cheering from ‘Black Lives Matter’ when the verdict was read, according to video on social media.
Hundreds of people were also in Union Square when the decision was made, including many who would come out earlier in the day for a free-weed event.
Black Lives Matter Greater New York Co-Founder Hawk Newsome addressed a crowd of protesters, leading them in a chant of ‘Power to the people!’, which raised its fist in the air.
“If it were not for us, if it were not for America standing up and saying ‘Black Lives Matter’, it would not have happened!”, He said in a megaphone.
A group of about 100 gathered there, then marched to Grand Central and sang, “We love black women” and “We respect black men, we protect black men.” footage shown.
Several dozen protesters also flocked to Times Square before marching downtown, stopping traffic at 34th Street and Seventh Avenue and ending at Washington Square Park.
They carried signs reading “Justice for George Floyd,” “Accountability is Not Justice,” and “Jail All Killer Cops!”
One of the protesters, Isaiah Fenichel, 23, a Mt. Resident of Vernon and organizer at Strategy for Black Lives, said he felt “bitterly sweet” by the verdict.
“I’m very happy that Derek Chauvin is convicted,” Fenichel said. “I’m very glad the system worked in this regard.”
However, he added: “I also know that it did not work for so many other people.”
Mary Rothfusz, 42, a meditation teacher from East Harlem, shouted and cried in Times Square when the verdict came out, saying she “has disbelief that we get all three of the scores”.
“Unfortunately, we do not statistically win against law enforcement,” she said. “I certainly did not think they would go with the highest penalty”
Additional reporting by Ben Brachfeld