Loretta Lynch speaking last night.

As indictments of minority elected officials continue to pile up, some leaders have openly suggested, while offering scant evidence, that a conspiracy exists to remove blacks and Latinos from power. But U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch, one of two federal prosecutors responsible for bringing many of the recent corruption charges, outright rejected any conspiracy theories last night. 

"There certainly is no conspiracy to look at any particular group," Ms. Lynch told reporters after speaking in front of a civic group in Marine Park, Brooklyn. "[Pedro] Espada was from the Bronx. You have other politicians from this area who have been prosecuted here, politicians from my district have been prosecuted in Manhattan as well, because it depends upon what evidence develops and where the case takes you. You really can't predict that, to be honest with you."

Ms. Lynch is black and her fellow U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara is Indian-American. Together, within the last two months, they have brought corruption charges against a slew of lawmakers, including State Senators Shirley Huntley, Malcolm Smith and John Sampson, as well as Assemblyman Eric Stevenson and Councilman Dan Halloran.

For her part, Ms. Lynch tried to rationalize why someone like State Senator James Sanders--the recent host of a debate dubbed "Attack on Black Leaders: Corruption or Conspiracy?"--openly wonder whether there is a conspiracy at work.

"No matter what type of case we prosecute, people who may feel targeted are concerned and make all kinds of statements about it," Ms. Lynch said. "It's part of the problem of public corruption that it really almost makes everyone look as if they're involved, even if they're not. And so you have people get very paranoid and very nervous and feel as if they're under a microscope ... We don't go around targeting people other than those that we strongly have evidence [against], but I think what happens is, the atmosphere is very toxic, for lack of a better word, and it does affect people and that's a byproduct of these cases," she said.

Councilman Jumaane Williams, who also attended last night's event, said the question of whether there is a conspiracy against minorities in power is not being framed the right way. The fact that he was even being asked about it, he said, was part of the problem.

"I've never heard anybody ask how it affects the white community," Mr. Williams said of the corruption scandals. "I think people look at elected officials of more color twice as hard and the blame is three times as much. So I think they have some kind of issue there, the fact that the question is asked for one group and not the other again shows how much of the problem there is."

When Politicker asked who the "people" were and whether they included federal prosecutors, Mr. Williams said it was "everybody."

"That's how, since I've been growing up, I've understood the world to be," he said. "It's unfortunate because I've tried real hard to change that but that's the way the world works."

Dov Hikind and his family in their Purim costumes. (Photo: Facebook)

Assemblyman Dov Hikind held a press conference in front of his home this afternoon responding to the uproar over a story that first appeared on Politicker today about his "black basketball player" Purim costume. In front of a small crowd of reporters, Mr. Hikind apologized that people were "offended" and reiterated his initial defense that the getup, which consisted of an orange jersey, brown face paint, an afro wig and sunglasses was merely a costume to celebrate the Jewish Purim holiday. However, even after Mr. Hikind addressed the firestorm, several members of the City Council sent letters to the Assemblyman arguing his apology did not go far enough.

"Anyone who was offended by the outfit that I was wearing on Purim yesterday ... it was not meant to offend anyone or hurt anyone in any fashion," Mr. Hikind began. "That is not what I am all about for the past 31 years in pub office and before that."

Mr. Hikind went on to describe how "hundreds and hundreds of people" came to his home during the fourteen hour party for which he donned the costume yesterday. He said "the whole idea" of the costume was "not to be recognizable."

"Anyone who was offended, I'm sorry that they were offended. That was not the intention and that's really all I can say," continued Mr. Hikind. "I just have to reiterate, it was Purim. Purim is when people get dressed up and try to look different."

The Assemblyman also assured the crowd of reporters gathered in front of his home that his costume "was never about a racial thing."

"If I was black, I might have asked the makeup person who I hire every single year and said, 'Make me look white this year. I want to look differently, I just dont want people to recognize me,'" said Mr. Hikind, referencing his tradition of hiring a makeup artist to help him prepare for the Purim festivites. "It wasn't about white, it wasn't about black, it wasn't about anything like that. So, you know, in hindsight seeing that all of you guys are out here today and this has become a real story, my God, you know I would have picked something else."

Mr. Hikind also discussed rethinking his future Purim costume choices with the New York Times.

“Next year I was thinking I’d be an Indian,” Mr. Hikind said. “But you know, I’ve changed my mind about that. I don’t think that’s a good idea. Somebody will be offended.”

Mr. Hikind's apologies clearly did not satisfy the members of the City Council's Black Latino and Asian Caucus. After the press conference, Councilmen Robert Jackson and Fernando Cabrera, the co-chairs of the 27 member Caucus sent a letter to Mr. Hikind on behalf of the group asking him to make a "true and real public apology" and meet with community leaders.

"We write, as the Black, Latino & Asian Caucus of the New York City Council, to directlyaddress the incident involving your donning of blackface at a party, and your sentimentssuggesting that no offense should be taken," the letter said. "We find it deeply disturbing that, not only didyou make the conscious decision to wear the offensive costume, but your commentsfollowing the media blowback suggest that you have no consideration for the history of  blackface and the trivialization of the black experience in this country."

Councilman Jumaane Williams, who is a member of the BLA Caucus, went a step further and sent another letter to Mr. Hikind co-signed by seven other Council members and Karim Camara, chairman of the minority caucus in the State Assembly. That letter also called for Mr. Hikind to make a "sincere public apology" and meet with community leaders.

"Your costume is offensive to a significant segment of this borough for its connection to the sordid history of blackface in American theater. People associate blackface with offensive African-American stereotypes popularized in minstrel shows and vaudeville, stereotypes such as laziness, stupidity and cowardice. In fact, this same art form negatively depicted other communities, including the bigoted portrayal of Jews as corrupt and conniving," the letter said. Not only have you appeared publicly in blackface, you have offered an initially fierce defense of your actions, declaring on your blog that 'this is political correctness to the absurd.' This is a disconcerting response, especially when we consider that on multiple occasions you have come out to loudly defend the Jewish community against real and perceived indignities."

Jumaane Williams (Photo: Facebook)

Brooklyn Councilman Jumaane Williams is one of the biggest Knicks fans in City government and, though he said he had a personal "struggle" over whether to back the newly-arrived Brooklyn Nets, he's sticking with his team. Mr. Williams revealed his decision to Politicker when we asked him about Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz's statement earlier today that Brooklynites who "support, cheer or root for the Manhattan Knicks" are "treasonous."

"It's something I've grappled with....It's very, very tough, but I think I'm Brooklyn enough. Nobody can question my Brooklyn-ness, not even Marty Markowitz," Mr. Williams said. "I've decided this fall to take my talents back to the Garden."

Mr. Williams said the decision was a "struggle" for him because he is a proud, native Brooklynite.

"I'm Brooklyn. I'm Brooklyn. I'm born-and-bred diehard Brooklyn. I believe I reek, smell of Brooklyn wherever I go and I'm very proud of that. And I'm a basketball fan, I've been a Knicks fan for life, so it was a struggle," said the Councilman with an audible sigh. "They're [the Nets] doing their thing now. The colors look good, you know, you see the Brooklyn. It's just tough and I'm sort of sad."

As he wrestled with the decision, Mr. Williams dipped his digital toes in the Nets' waters.

"I've got to tell you, I did try to play with the Nets on my XBox, my 2K13, and I just couldn't do it."

Though he ultimately chose to stick with the Knicks, Mr. Williams said he will give the Nets some support.

"I'm going to root just like the Mets and the Yankees. I'm a Mets fan, but I root for the Yankees when they're not playing the Mets," Mr. Williams said. "I'll root for the Nets when they're not playing the Knicks. I love New York."

In his statement about "treasonous" Knicks fans in Brooklyn, Mr. Markowitz said he might use the "awesome powers conferred upon me as Brooklyn Borough President to pursue "charges" against Knicks loyalists in Kings County. However, Mr. Williams said he hopes Mr. Markowitz will be lenient with him.

"I think he's doing what he's supposed to do as the Brooklyn Borough President," said Mr. Williams. "But I think that some of us that are Brooklyn enough could get a pardon and I think I'm one of those."

Jumaane Williams (Photo: Facebook)

Reports of chaotic situations at the polls around New York City this Election Day are mounting. The areas on the southwestern tip of Brooklyn that were damaged by Hurricane Sandy have experienced issues, but we're also hearing about problems in neighborhoods that weren't heavily impacted by the storm including Flatbush, Park Slope and parts of Manhattan. Brooklyn Councilman Jumaane Williams, who has been touring the polling sites in the East Flatbush and Flatbush portions of his district described the situation as "complete disorganization" and had harsh words for the city Board of Elections. He also suggested the federal or city government may need to take action against the BOE to prevent a similar situation from happening again.

"I think on a non-Sandy day they have problems doing a good election," Mr. Williams said of the BOE. "Combine that with Sandy and they're completely unorganized. They've had four years to plan this. Their only job is to plan elections and they can't get it right. And you should have conditional plans, you should have backup plans, you should have contingency plans. Where are those plans? This is getting worse and worse."

Mr. Williams visited three schools and a church in Flatbush and East Flatbush. He said all of the sites had incredibly long lines and overall disorganization that he called a "complete breakdown." When asked about the issues that contributed to the problems at the polls, Mr. Williams fired off a long laundry list of problems.

"Not enough poll workers, the schematics of how they set up how people come in haven't been good, they haven't been giving good info to people who are waiting in line and they haven't been directing the crowd and traffic properly," he said.

According to Mr. Williams, the worst situation he witnessed was at the VanderVeer Park United Methodist Church where he said voters waited in lines that were over four hours long.

"They were trying to squeeze people into one small hallway, into one small room that had 3 [electoral districts] in it. Two of the tables were completely empty, nobody, because the E.D.'s weren't the busiest and then one of them was the busiest clogging everything up," said Mr. Williams.

At a press conference this afternoon, Mayor Michael Bloomberg blasted the BOE's performance today and their new scantron system that he said has contributed to crowding at the polls and made counting votes more difficult.  The BOE was heavily criticized this summer after widespread issues with their count of the results in the congressional primary between State Senator Adriano Espaillat and Congressman Charlie Rangel led to the outcome of the race being unclear for nearly two weeks.

"This is absolutely chaos," Mr. Williams said. "I didn't think the BOE could top themselves after the primaries, but they've done just that."

Due to the chaos at the polls in Flatbush, Mr. Williams said some people have given up on voting and left before casting their ballots.

"I haven't seen personally people leave. People have told me that they're going to leave and people on the line have told me that people have already left," said Mr. Williams. "People are complaining because they have to go to work and they're asking me if they could get fired for going to vote. So, there's a lot of pressures here."

Multiple sources have told Politicker the chaos at the polls today could impact the results of local races, particularly in the areas most hard-hit by Hurricane Sandy. Mr. Williams said he thinks that, while the presidential race clearly had to go on, the BOE should have postponed the local contests in the wake of the storm.

"The local elections positively, absolutely should have been cancelled. I think it was a dereliction of duty not to postpone the local elections. I mean, this is so unfair to anybody who's running in a local election. It's completely unfair. It's a travesty to what we're calling democracy to have had these local elections go forward."

Given his obvious dissatisfaction with the BOE's Election Day performance, we asked Mr. Williams whether he believes the federal government should take action against the agency.

"I think somebody's got to look at it. Somebody has to look at it," Mr. Williams said. "I mean they just can't keep going on like this. We are disenfranchising voters on a large scale and that's problematic. If they can't do it, then somebody needs to look into them."

We also asked Mr. Williams whether he and other colleagues in the City Council might take action against the BOE.

"I'm going to do whatever I can do to make sure that the BOE is doing their job, because they're not and they need to be held accountable and that's not happening," said Mr. Williams. "Every time it's getting worse. It's getting worse. I don't know what other words to use. This is disgraceful."

We called the BOE and asked them to respond to Mr. Williams' criticisms and the reports of issues at polling places in Flatbush, Coney Island, the Rockaways and Park Slope, where police were called in to restore order on the crowded lines at M.S. 51. The woman who answered the phone said we would need to speak with BOE spokeswoman Valerie Vazquez.

"You'd have to speak with our public relations officer. At this time, she's in the field settling problems as the ones you mentioned."

As of this writing, Ms. Vazquez hasn't responded to a message left on her cell phone.

Voting in Crown Heights (Photo: @sarahljaffe)

"We have some other type of crisis here, partially organized by Hurricane Sandy, partially organized by the Board of Elections," Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny told Politicker this morning, ticking off poll sites that did not receive machines until 8:04 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. respectively, over an hour after they were scheduled to open. "My question is, if they knew, if the Board of Elections knew yesterday this was the poll site that would be assigned today, were they sleeping this morning? It disenfranchises many people."

We asked if there might be a possibility of a re-do election.

"That is a possibility, I think," he answered, noting all of the Hurricane Sandy-induced chaos was in the Democratic parts of his district. "I have two parts of the district. Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights, which is conservative, and Coney Island and Sea Gate, which is much more liberal, and I'm a Democrat....This is all becoming totally ridiculous. This is not about me, of course. This is about 40,000 voters losing the right to vote."

But the problems extend far beyond Hurricane Sandy's path of devastation. Wendy Long, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, sent out a press release describing her woes while voting in Manhattan.

"This morning when I went to vote, a poll worker who was at the scanner, studied my private ballot and proceeded to tell me that it was rejected because I did not 'fill in every space,'" she said in a statement. "She then proceeded to indicate that I should mark the Democratic line all the way down. The poll worker said, 'you have to fill in all of THESE, all the way down," indicating the whole line at the far left of the ballot, saying 'you can't leave any blank.'"

Additionally, Councilman Jumaane Williams, who represents a neighborhood in Central Brooklyn, described even more chaos on his Twitter page:

Extremely concerned @boenyc at least 3 polls didn't open time. Got word another has machines not working. Can't imagine hard hit areas!

— Jumaane D. Williams (@JumaaneWilliams) November 6, 2012

Never received so many problems so early from so many places. PS 152 88 year old just left w/voting. @boenyc

— Jumaane D. Williams (@JumaaneWilliams) November 6, 2012

I overheard a #pollworker tell #voters to vote all #Democrat or all #Republican! Sigghhh... @boenyc. Training is also important.

— Jumaane D. Williams (@JumaaneWilliams) November 6, 2012

Help/media needed @ny1 @ny1desk @courtneycgross @boenyc massive confusion at Vanderveer Methodist Glenwood/Nostrand Ave twitter.com/JumaaneWilliam…

— Jumaane D. Williams (@JumaaneWilliams) November 6, 2012

From anecdotes and reports elsewhere across the city:

No working scanners here at Penn South. RT @rueby: RT @michaelpaulson: We are hearing multiple reports of failed ballot scanners around NYC.

— Nick Confessore (@nickconfessore) November 6, 2012

MS 51 poll-site is worst we've ever seen. Just sent @commoncauseny & NYPD 78th Pct over to try to maintain calm and take complaints @boenyc

— Brad Lander (@bradlander) November 6, 2012

2 out of 3 scanners jammed. No one knew how to fix them. 2 voters walked in and knew what to do. Scanners fixed. — Justin Brannan (@JustinBrannan) November 6, 2012

Confusion at a Park Slope polling site via @erik_engquist mycrains.crainsnewyork.com/blogs/insider/… — Andrew J. Hawkins (@andyjayhawk) November 6, 2012

Friend in Fort Greene says organizers outside polling place were insistent he had to vote straight R or D, argument ensued — Reid Pillifant (@reidpillifant) November 6, 2012

In line an hour and line has stopped. No one knows why. Freezing. #nyvote

— Andrea Bernstein (@AndreaWNYC) November 6, 2012

Super poll site in rockaway pk is functioning albeit with challenges generators now have gas so there is more light but no heat in tents

— Zack Fink (@ZackFinkNews) November 6, 2012

No working scanners here at Penn South. RT @rueby: RT @michaelpaulson: We are hearing multiple reports of failed ballot scanners around NYC.

— Nick Confessore (@nickconfessore) November 6, 2012

There are 300 or so on line at Friends of Crown Hts daycare center. 2 of 3 scanners broken #ny1votes yfrog.com/hwj0kofj

— Errol Louis (@errollouis) November 6, 2012

Broken machines, relocated voters cause huge lines at polling stations ow.ly/f46Td @dnainfo #Election2012

— Alan Neuhauser (@alneuhauser) November 6, 2012

line at my polling location [baruch college] goes through a lobby & weaves down four flights of stairs. #whoa #ny1votes

— Rosemary Shultz (@rshultz) November 6, 2012

The voting machines on 151st Amsterdam and St. Nicholas are jammed. We have to vote on paper ballots. Hundreds of people are waiting.

— Jenisha Watts (@iamjournalism) November 6, 2012

People are leaving the polls in Harlem.

— Jenisha Watts (@iamjournalism) November 6, 2012

We have recruited & trained 36,000 poll workers. We appreciate your patience in these challenging circumstances #nycvotes #ny1votes #nyvotes

— NYCBoardOfElections (@BOENYC) November 6, 2012

Jumaane Williams being pushed with a baton at an Occupy rally Monday night.

Councilman Jumaane Williams has been a proud supporter of Occupy Wall Street since the early days of the movement last year. He proudly pins his Occupy button on his suit even for formal interviews and rather freely shouts "All day, all week! Occupy Wall Street!" when around activists. However, the Occupy movement isn't what it once was. Notably, the crowds are far smaller while the movement's message still remains muddled to many outside observers. We asked Mr. Williams about the state of Occupy after he hosted a press conference earlier today on voter confusion.

"I actually think they've done a lot more than they get credit for," Mr. Williams replied. "But I also think they've got to try and remain as focused as possible on the core issues that they started with so I'm a little concerned about that."

Given Mr. Williams' concern, Politicker asked the councilman if he still identifies with the movement and how long he will continue to be broadcasting their message by wearing his Occupy button.

"I don't know, I still identify with it, hopefully I can continue to," Mr. Williams, who is still sporting the pin, said. "I want them to get more focused. ... I think they get a little sidetracked at times."

Additionally we asked Mr. Williams--who has had multiple unpleasant encounters with the NYPD since being elected--about a police officer forcefully shoving him at the latest Occupy rally. The councilman said he's not exactly sure why he continues to be on the receiving end of this kind of undesired police attention, but vowed to continue attending protests if he supports the cause.

"I don't know, I've been to many protests including Occupy and I've been able to observe without incident," he explained. "I'm looking forward to continuing to do that as we move forward."

Officials said the almost-illegible text on the very bottom of the poster was what many voters were presented with last Thursday.

On the steps of City Hall earlier this afternoon, council members and good-government advocates gathered to "sound the alarm" over problems that occurred during the September 13 primary elections, and urged both the Board of Elections and legislative bodies to act promptly to rectify the situation before November's presidential election, when far more people are set to vote.

Councilman Jumaane Williams, who tweeted up a storm of frustration last Election Day and who led today's event, urged everyone to pay particular attention to the tiny font size used on the ballots, which he said was significantly smaller than in past elections and created substantial problems for seniors unable to read the letters. To prove his point, he pointed to a poster that illustrated the smallness of the font. His colleague, Councilman Vinnie Gentile, channeled Jimmy McMillan, exclaiming, “The font is too damn small!"

A host of other problems were cited as well, including poll workers giving inaccurate information and improperly sending others to the wrong polling location, which allegedly led to a number of voters to give up in frustration.

Also on hand at today's press conference was Board of Elections Commissioner J.C. Polanco, a Bronx Republican who's become a bit of an antagonist to the board's critics since elected officials blasted the city's vote-counting operations in the wake of the June 26 congressional primaries.

"I couldn't stay quiet," Mr. Polanco told Politicker about his new media-friendly role. "There was misinformation being given."

Of today's event, he said, "There were some things at the press conference today that were unfortunately misguided." Mr. Polanco argued the Legislature is responsible for all of the election woes described and said the BOE was more than happy to work with lawmakers to fix the problems.

Of course, the State Legislature in Albany is not known for fixing election problems. Notably, State Senate refused to move the state's primaries to the same date as the federal election after losing a lawsuit, instead choosing to hold two separate primaries despite the expense and confusion involved.

We asked Common Cause's Susan Lerner why she is optimistic anything can be accomplished when it's more than possible some powerful political forces prefer lower voter turnout.

"What's the alternative? That we say nothing can change?" she rhetorically asked. "This is actually something easy for them to change."

(Photo: NY1)

"I'm talking about political leadership, they're not out there talking about the problem," NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said on Inside City Hall last night, defending his department's use of the controversial stop-and-frisk policy. "They're not out there talking about, 'Hey, we have a lot of young men of color shooting each other.' You don't hear that spoken about openly. You do hear unhappiness with the tactics and strategies that we use."

The host, Errol Louis, interjected to argue that elected officials do indeed talk about violence, and not just problems with the NYPD, causing Mr. Kelly to retort, "Well, you're not reporting it. They do report it when they criticize the police though, certainly on New York 1."

And it turns out that one of the chief critics of the NYPD's current tactics, Councilman Jumaane Williams, agrees, sort of.

"Obviously I think there is some things the media should do better and must do better to get this message across," he said on the Brian Lehrer Show this morning. "But the commissioner knows about these events. As I said, that 'Not in My Hood' march actually had to get special permission from his office because we needed a special permit."

Mr. Williams proceeded to argue that Mr. Kelly himself should be attending events highlighting violence in his neighborhood and others.

"He doesn't come out to these events even when invited," he said. "Now you have funerals for people like Zurana Horton, who died a hero, meaning shot protecting children. That was the perfect event for the commissioner to show up."

"There is a nugget of truth in the commissioner's comments," he added later. "I do believe some more leaders need to do more to step up and speak out. The problem is that the commissioner has an audacity to say that because he is not even listening to those of us who are speaking out."

Members of the delegation of New York elected officials in front of the U.S. Capitol Building.

A delegation of elected officials from New York is currently in Washington D.C. to express their concerns about the NYPD’s controversial stop and frisk policy and ask the Department of Justice to investigate the program as a civil rights violation.

Multiple sources have confirmed to The Politicker that Attorney General Eric Holder met with leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus yesterday to discuss the issue. A source on Capitol Hill also told us that, at that meeting, Mr. Holder expressed his interest in investigating stop and frisk.

Officially, Mr. Holder and the Department of Justice have not made any decision about whether they will investigate the program, which resulted in a record 684,330 people being stopped last year, the vast majority of whom were minorities. Councilman Jumaane Williams, who was part of the delegation that traveled to Washington, told The Politicker the Department of Justice is considering several options.

"It seems to be more a question of finding a way for them to do something than if they will do something," Mr. Williams said. "I was asking for them to do three or four things; a full investigation of the NYPD, being an intervener or filling an amicus brief or letter of support when it comes to the litigation against stop and frisk or to help us and find some way to support us on any of the legislative solutions were working on on the city and state levels. They didn't balk at any of it, they're interested in all of it."

Mr. Williams also said there were "no commitments made" and that the Department of Justice seemed to be looking for options other than a full-fledged investigation.

"One thing they said is that an investigation can be very lengthy and they might want to do something sooner rather than later," said Mr. Williams.

Mr. Holder previously discussed a potential stop and frisk investigation when he was questioned about the policy by Bronx Congressman José Serrano.

"We have looked at a variety of, 18 is the number now, of police departments who have engaged in practices that are inconsistent with the way in which they're supposed to serve the people that they represent," Mr. Holder said. "If we find that this is a problem in New York, it is something that we will investigate. It is something, at this point, that I don't think that we have an open investigation, but it is not something that we are not cognizant of."

If Mr. Holder does launch an investigation into stop and frisk, it will not be his first investigation of the NYPD. In March, he launched an investigation into the department's controversial Muslim surveillance program.

As of this writing, neither the NYPD or the Attorney General's office has responded to requests to comment on this story.

Members of the stop and frisk delegation including State Senator Adriano Espaillat, Councilwoman Mellissa Mark-Viverito and Assemblyman Karim Camara meeting with officials in Washington.

A number of New York City and State elected officials are in Washington D.C. this afternoon to address their concerns about the NYPD's controversial stop and frisk policy. They are calling on the Department of Justice to investigate the NYPD's use of stop and frisk as a civil rights violation.  The NYPD stopped a record number of people last year, the vast majority of whom were minorities.

“New Yorkers are fed up with this policy that continually targets our communities,” Assemblyman Karim Camara, Chairman of the New York State Black Puerto Rican Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus said in a statement. “The numbers tell a tragic story. One recent report said that more young black men were stopped than actually lived in the city.  We cannot get away from the fact that there is implicit racial bias in this tactic used by the NYPD.  Since City officials refuse to listen, we are taking our cause to Washington.  It’s time for some high-powered back up to advocate for the civil rights of New Yorkers.”

The delegation is holding closed-door meetings with members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Congressional Progressive Caucus. They also delivered a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder.

“Last year alone, New York City Officers stopped 684,330 people under the stop-and-frisk policy. This amounted to a 14 percent jump from the previous year. Even more shocking is the 600 percent increase in stops made since the data collection began in 2002," the letter said. "Most of those who are stopped are not arrested or even issued a summons; further igniting concern that the policy amounts to nothing more than racial profiling and harassment.”

Members of the delegation included Mr. Camara, Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman, Congressman Charlie Rangel, Mr. Rangel's primary opponent in the 13th District, State Senator Adriano Espaillat, Councilman Jumaane Williams and several other members of the State Legislature and New York City Council.

"'Stop and Frisk' is an assault on the civil rights of New Yorkers," said Mr. Espaillat, who is Chair of the State Senate's Latino Caucus. "It harms law and order by creating distrust between police and local communities; it violates the civil liberties of individuals who are stopped without rhyme or reason; and it violates every notion of justice and due process our society is built on. The Federal Government has an important role to play in protecting the rights of citizens and we are calling on the Justice Department to step in and stop this unconstitutional and unjust practice from continuing."