New York crime continues to climb, despite Democrats’ progressive efforts. Although there has been a slight decrease in homicides, which authorities claim is due to the stricter gun laws and confiscating firearms, five major-index crime categories saw an uptick in their numbers. So, if the left’s idea of fixing criminality is so grand, why is the Empire State seeing more incidents?
New York Crime Defined
“For the first time in ages, polls suggest, New Yorkers are wary of crime as they walk down the street or ride the trains,” The New York Times reported. In the Big Apple, nearly 30% of the people “live below the city’s poverty line,” which only adds to the fear and frustration in certain neighborhoods. Even former New York Democratic Governor David Patterson said he felt less safe than ever before:
“For the first time in my life—even in the late eighties and nineties when the crime rate was killing 2,000 people a year, I never felt as unsafe as I do now just walking around and God forbid, sometimes we take the subway home from WABC, and you’re hearing about an assault on the subway almost every other day.”
During a recent radio interview on “The Cats Roundtable with John Catsimatidis,” Patterson said when it comes to crime, Democrats have a “blind spot,” especially regarding repeat offenders. Even though it is a small percentage of people in the jail system, he explained that they are getting arrested “20, 30, 50 times.”
Many critics blame the state’s catch-and-release program for the increase in crime, while others say there’s no proof that this is causing a change in the numbers. The NYPD released its September report, which showed an increase of 15.2% in the overall index compared to the same time last year. Of the major categories, burglary went up by 22.7%, grand larceny auto saw a 21.5% rise, and grand larceny rose 21.3% since 2021.
Back in July, when serious New York crime was up by 40%, Mayor Eric Adams lambasted the procedure, saying, “Catch, release repeat’ cannot be a criminal justice mantra.” He added, “They’re repeated offenders, and if we don’t stop that flow, we’re going to have a harder time of getting these numbers under control.”
Last month, the mayor was criticized when he seemingly insulted Kansas, saying, “We have a brand. New York has a brand. And when people see it, it means something … Kansas doesn’t have a brand. When you go there, okay, you’re from Kansas. But New York has a brand.” The former governor, however, thinks Adams needs to be careful when talking about the ‘brand’:
“Mayor Adams says that New York City has a brand—it does have a brand if we don’t start adjusting to some of the situations that we’re in right now. That brand is not going to carry the weight and the tremendous allure that New York City has always offered to the country.”
Adding to this problem is Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who refused to prosecute anyone who hasn’t committed a serious crime. While he claims this will help ease the instances of crime, critics are appalled and demand arrests and prosecution must be made.
The Politics of NY Crime
With the elections only a month away, hopeful candidates have been campaigning on the most voter-popular interests, and crime is a major concern in New York and across the nation. The recent media coverage of horrible instances happening in the city, especially in the subway system, has helped to garner fear among residents. Some of the latest stories include a man who was pushed onto the subway tracks, another man trying to commute home to Brooklyn who was stabbed to death, and a gang of women who attacked and robbed two other women near Times Square.
(Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images)
Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) is running against Republican Lee Zeldin, and while she’s far in the lead, when it comes to crime, she’s had to backpedal a couple of times, as was explained by Liberty Nation Political Columnist Joe Schaeffer. There was the Sept. 16 incident where an axe-wielding man scared the bejesus out of McDonald’s customers and was “promptly released without bail, forcing Hochul to awkwardly demand an explanation.” And, as Mr. Schaeffer pointed out, “Just one month earlier, Hochul had insisted that bail reform had nothing to do with rising crime in the state.”
Zeldin, on the other hand, has been adamant about being tougher on crime and has been the victim or near victim in just the last couple of months. In July, while he was on stage during an event, an Army veteran assaulted the congressman with a sharp keychain. The man later said he’d been drinking and didn’t even know who Zeldin was. And then, just this week, two people were shot outside his residence. Although he and his wife were not home at the time, the couple’s 16-year-old daughters were. “They ran upstairs, locked themselves in the bathroom, and immediately called 911,” the candidate for governor said.
But then, as Mr. Zeldin talked about crime in the city, a reporter asked if this was an appropriate time to discuss politics. “At what point are we supposed to talk about the crime on our own streets?” Zeldin demanded. “I’m standing in front of crime scene tape in front of my own house.”
Wearing blinders or having “blind spots” when it comes to protecting citizens from criminals seems to be the plan of action for New York politicians.
