Speaking before an audience in Brooklyn that had gathered to celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mayor Bill de Blasio told an audience that if the civil rights leader were still alive today, he would be disappointed his legacy has not led to more change for African Americans. 

"He would say we have not gotten the point as a nation," de Blasio said. "How is the economic condition of African Americans worse in many ways today than it was in 1968? How are educational disparities so intense? Why are so many young black men in prison?"

He encouraged New Yorkers to continue Dr. King's fight for civil and economic rights. 

"He died in defense of a labor union that day in Memphis and he would wonder how are we going backwards on the rights of working people," de Blasio said. "He would also say: how on earth are we going backwards on voting rights?"  

The mayor said today's social justice movements are starting to change the American dialogue, but he said government accountability has been slow.

"Dr. King would remind us (that) if in...2016, we have to even say the self-evident words Black Lives Matter," he said, "that we have not gone far enough as a nation."