> They even _publicly threatened_ the children of the previous mayor.

I'm curious to learn more. Do you have a source?

This doesn't seem to support any allegation that the NYPD "publicly threatened" DeBlasio's "children". What did happen is that the NYPD Sergeants' union inappropriately tweeted details about her arrest, after she was arrested. That's one child, for those keeping score, not "children", and it's also not a "threat" of any identifiable kind. It is definitely inappropriate, though.

So it would appear that Business Insider's headline was sensationalist and not well supported.

It was not a coincidence they arrested her when she did. It was absolutely a tactic to intimidate DeBlasio. It worked too!

>> inappropriately tweeted details about her arrest

This is typically considered a threat by most well adjusted people, and most definitely an extreme level of harassment.

> There's very little power for the citizens to actually do anything.

How much effort did you expend before declaring that change is futile? The NYPD has political power because they worked to establish relationships with politicians and spent money to hire lobbyists that keep these these politicians accountable to their interests. On the other hand, most people would have trouble to name a single city councilor.