“There is nothing acceptable about individuals walking into stores, taking what they want, walking out and then, when they’re arrested for the action, for people to say we are criminalizing the poor; no we’re not,” Mayor Eric Adams thundered last week. Sadly, though, that’s precisely the mindset of the folks writing the laws in this state.
Indeed, at the same Manhattan Chamber of Commerce “Conversation on Crime” event, Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz (D-Bronx) actually blamed the NYPD for not arresting crooks because of the “attitude” that bail reform would put anyone they busted right back on the streets.
That prompted NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey to erupt: It’s not that “my cops are walking away and not making arrests” but that “we are constantly arresting the same people,” citing the evidence on repeat offenders — cue audience applause.
Another prime exhibit of Albany’s denial is state Senate No. 2 (at least) leader Mike Gianaris, who just torpedoed Hector LaSalle, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s liberal pick to be the state’s chief judge simply because he was once a prosecutor.
And his colleague, Judiciary Chairman Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who now vows to nix any judicial nominee who was ever endorsed by the Conservative Party, even though four-party endorsements are common for lower-level judges, where the test is often just basic competence and integrity, nothing ideological.
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Progressive Democratic district attorneys, from Albany’s David Soares to Staten Island’s Michael McMahon, keep slamming the Legislature’s recent “reforms” as ensuring that criminals won’t pay a price even when caught.
But the lawmakers refuse to listen; they’re going to push for more ill-conceived reforms this year, convinced they can bully Hochul into submission should she object.
Until Democratic moderates in the Legislature stand up to this madness, the revolving doors will only spin faster, mainly at the expense of the poor, communities of color, immigrants, women and young people.
This past weekend saw two people shot to death and four others wounded in separate shootings in Brooklyn and The Bronx. A Brooklyn teen died Saturday of his wounds from a stabbing assault. A teen shot leaving a Bronx Police Athletic League rec center Thursday died on Friday.
The blood will keep running, and the business-killing thefts keep coming, until the anti-cop, pro-criminal progressives change their ways or the voters finally make them pay a price for all the needless suffering they’ve caused.
