Protesters gathered in East New York on Saturday to call for a change in how the city funds the NYPD and the community.

Groups of people lined up on Pennsylvania Avenue and demanded the mayor and the City Council decrease funds to the NYPD and reinvest into communities that have been impacted by what they call “repressive policing.”

Robert Cuffy, who took part in the rally, says if these changes were made, the community would look very different.

“It would be a world where people's needs would be taken care of… where people don't go to bed hungry,” Cuffy says. “There are several hotels around us being used as shelters by the city. That money could go towards getting those people into permanent housing.”

The Defund NYPD Coalition alongside other organizations say they also want funds to go to health care, education and community investments.

Protesters’ calls to defund the police is a message many have continued to spread following the death of George Floyd last year.

Protestors held umbrellas with the names of other men and women who died at the hands of police, including Adam Toledo and Breonna Taylor.

Rally participant Sarah Yorra says she thinks it’s important for protesters not to let up because major reforms are still needed.

“It feels like ever since we had police, we've had these issues… the first police were based on the slave patrols in the south, that's where this institution comes from,” Yorra says. “I think what we've seen again and again is you try and do little reforms, and it doesn't make that big of a difference. The structures are really problematic. "

The rally was held after Mayor Bill de Blasio released the executive budget for 2022 in April. In order for that budget to be finalized, it will go through the City Council.