There's very little power for the citizens to actually do anything. The NYPD holds tremendous political power, and wields it aggressively. They even _publicly threatened_ the children of the previous mayor.
I'm curious to learn more. Do you have a source?
So it would appear that Business Insider's headline was sensationalist and not well supported.
This is typically considered a threat by most well adjusted people, and most definitely an extreme level of harassment.
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.