1968 New York City riot

Harlem, the largest African-American neighborhood in Manhattan was expected to erupt into looting and violence as it had done a year earlier, in which two dozen stores were either burglarized or burned and four people were killed.

However, Mayor John Lindsay traveled into the heart of the area and stated that he regretted King’s wrongful death which led to the calming of residents.

Numerous businesses were still looted and set afire in Harlem and Brooklyn, although these events were not widespread and paled in comparison to the riots in Washington D.C., Baltimore, and Chicago in which federal troops were needed to quell the disorders.

[1][2] Two unrelated instances of civil unrest would happen in the city during July in the Lower East Side and Coney Island at close to the same time.

In meetings held with city officials and community members, a promise would be made that the TPF would not harass those who were working as part of anti-poverty programs or "attack the 'community action centers of the people inside them.