Edited by: TJVNews.com
As violent crime in the subways and streets continues to spiral out of control in New York City and the general consensus appears to be that New Yorkers feel as though the city is in freefall mode, it was reported that the NYPD’s controversial elite Strategic Response Group is being dispatched to precincts where crime rates are high along with additional cops to confront the plague of crime that has gripped the city, according to a new police memo obtained by the New York Post.
The special unit — which drew criticism for its role in quelling widespread Black Lives Matter protests” — has been deployed “to commands with a high volume of serious crime,” the document states, according to the Post report.
The strategy of reshuffling cops is being utilized as the memo lists the 20 precincts that are expected to get extra officers as deterrence to most major crimes, the Post reported. Thus far, the strategy has proved ineffectual as the crime rate continues to skyrocket.
The Post also reported that the NYPD’s “enhanced deployment strategy” was first announced in February, with NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell saying desk officers would be moved to the streets to help target both serious crime and qualify-of-life concerns in hot spots.
That plan called for 658 cops to be reassigned from non-patrol duties to the streets, according to the Post report.
In early October, officials from the NYPD announced that there would then be a reshuffling of cops to at least some other precincts.
The Bronx has the most precincts — eight — getting enhanced patrols under the latest reshuffling of additional cops, according to the Post report. They are the 40th, 42nd, 43rd, 44th, 46th, 47th, 48th and 52nd precincts, the memo shows.
After the Bronx comes Manhattan with six precincts: the Sixth, 14th, 18th, 19th, 25th and 28th. The affected Brooklyn precincts are the 67th, 73rd and 75th, while Queens has the 109th, 110th, 114th, as was reported by the Post.
Eight of the targeted precincts are also on the city’s top 10 list for shootings and robberies.
As of Sunday, NYPD statistics show that, murders in the city were down nearly 14% over the same period last year, and shootings dipped by 14.4%.
The Post also reported that all other major crimes have spiked this year over the same time in 2021, with robberies up more than 32%, grand larceny soaring by 38.5%, and car thefts jumping by 34.4%.
On Tuesday, the Post reported that straphanger was robbed at gunpoint in the Port Authority subway, authorities said.
The victim was standing on the A, C and E platform at the 42nd Street-Port Authority Bus Terminal station in Manhattan around 4:45 a.m. when the suspect flashed what appeared to be a gun in his waistband, a police official said, according to the Post report.
An alleged accomplice displayed a hockey stick, cops said.
In a Halloween incident on Monday, the Post reported that a 29-year-old man was killed and a 19-year-old girl was injured in a shooting outside a Brooklyn housing development.
The crime took place in the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn, outside NYCHA’s Nostrand Houses at Brown Street and Avenue V at approximately 5:10 p.m. Monday, police said, as was reported by the Post.
A gunman opened fire, striking both victims. The man was shot once in the buttocks and once in the chest. The Post reported that he was rushed to Brookdale Hospital, where was pronounced dead.
The teenager was shot in the chest, right knee and right hip. She was also taken to Brookdale Hospital and is expected to survive. The gunman remains at large and the investigation is ongoing, the Post reported.
As the dramatic uptick in crime remains the focal point of conversation in New York City, it is also dominating the upcoming New York gubernatorial race. In last week’s televised debate between New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin of Long Island, Zeldin queried Hochul about why more violent criminals are not being locked up and taken off the streets. In what many have perceived as a tone deaf response, Hochul asked Zeldin why he is so concerned about criminals being arrested and incarcerated.
The controversial bail reform law which allows career felons to be released by judges after being arrested was also debated and Zeldin said that one of the first matters he would attend to if elected would be to fire Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a vocal advocate of bail reform and a very soft on crime prosecutor. Also bandied about during the debate was the issues of getting guns off the streets and what measures to take to handle the ongoing issue of mentally ill homeless people who are committing crimes at a staggering rate.
At the inception of this election season, it appeared that the incumbent, Hochul, had a formidable lead against challenger Zeldin. The Democratic party machine in the Empire State made sure that Hochul’s campaign coffers were over flowing with cash. As the race for the state house in Albany continues to tighten and crime continues to escalate to astronomical proportions, as of Tuesday, Zeldin is now ahead of Hochul in the polls.
The Post reported that Zeldin, who is a candidate that has defined himself as tough on crime, is now leading the progressive incumbent governor by 48.4% to 47.6%, according to the Trafalgar Group poll released late Monday.
Only 4% of the likely voters polled said they were still undecided on who they wanted to elect as the Empire State’s next governor at next Tuesday’s elections, according to the Post report.
In the aftermath of the poll’s release, the Post reported that Zeldin said in a statement: “Crime Wave Kathy is driving New York right off a cliff. To repeal cashless bail, fire rogue DAs like Alvin Bragg, stop congestion pricing, and take other bold action to save our state, Hochul’s gotta go. On November 8th, we are going to win this race for governor, because we have to win this race. Losing is not an option. New Yorkers throughout the state are sick and tired of the attacks on our wallets, safety, freedom and kids’ education. They’re fed up with the direction of Kathy Hochul’s New York, her rampant pay to play corruption, soaring crime, and crushing costs.”
The Hochul campaign declined to comment on the new polling.
Hochul is taking heat for comments she made during a recent interview on MSNBC about the fear that has overtaken New Yorkers and all Americans over the alarming spike in violent crime. She said that the fear of crime was manufactured by “master manipulators” in a national “conspiracy.”
Speaking to the Post, Councilman Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island), spokesman for a pro-Zeldin super PAC said, “Now we can all see what’s causing the panic in Camp Kathy. Her internal polls are showing this same massive momentum swing and she is flailing her arms in the surf trying to keep above water.”
“In the past week, we’ve heard her shift positions on crime, yeshivas, charter schools, bail, and probably her favorite ice cream flavor, too,” he added.
Also speaking to the Post was Jesse Garcia, the Suffolk County GOP chairman. He said the latest poll shows the Republican candidate has the momentum — and is peaking at the right time.
“This is reflective of what we’re seeing on the ground. Zeldin and the entire Republican ticket has a lot of momentum from Erie to Montauk,” Garcia said, the Post reported.
He compared Zeldin to the great Yankee Hall of Fame pitcher Mariano Rivera, who used to close out games.
“If we’re talking about the greatest closers it’s Mariano Rivera and Lee Zeldin,” Garcia said.
The Post also reported that GOP state party Chair Nick Langworthy added: “New Yorkers are fired up and ready to take our state back. People from all political persuasions are about to deliver a reckoning to Kathy Hochul and show her that the only ones in denial are the tone-deaf Democrats who have destroyed New York. Change is coming.”
Last September, Hochul signed the “Less is More” act, aimed at improving justice and safety in city jails, and keeping former prisoners from returning to jail. Critics say that this law has helped paroled criminals commit new crimes and get arrested without fear of being sent back to jail.
As per the NY Post, while the law puts strict limits on parolees who commit technical violations, like failing to show up for a hearing or failing a drug test – it is flawed in that it also offers new protections to the paroled suspects when they are arrested for a new crime. “Before, if someone was on parole and they got arrested, they would have to go back to jail and finish their sentence. Now parolees aren’t afraid of getting arrested and going back to jail,” complained one Queens cop. “This is another example of progressive politicians taking another tool out of our toolbox”.
Critics say that since the reform was enacted, numerous high-profile crimes were committed by suspects on parole, who were freed once again despite dangerous new crimes committed. For example, in August, convicted sex-offender Bui Van Phu, who was on lifetime parole, was accused of sucker-punching a stranger in the Bronx and putting him in a coma. The convicted felon was still let out with no bail due to “Less is More” reform, whereas in the past he would have automatically been put in jail for violating his parole. This is because the new law now requires a warrant for a suspect who broke parole, with a hearing required within a specific timeframe. Hochul herself had interfered in Phu’s infamous case, pushing authorities to issue a warrant for the parole violation.
“It is extremely hard to get a warrant,” said Wayne Spence, a parole officer and president of the Public Employees Federation, the second-largest state-employee union in NY, which is working to make changes to the law. He said politicians should study how many parolees commit crimes today, compared to the years before the reform was enacted.
In another example, at the end of September, a Queens woman was savagely beaten in a subway station by vagrant Waheed Foster. Foster had been arrested in August for breaking his parole on two counts– alleged criminal possession of stolen property and criminal mischief. Still the judge had let him loose, allowing him to carry out the vicious beating which left the woman’s eyesight in jeopardy.
The state’s controversial bail-reform laws, passed in 2019, and “Less is More” work together helping criminals, said defense lawyer Mark Bederow. “Guys who a couple of years ago unquestionably would’ve been held, get let out,” Bederow told The Post. “Do I think that guys know that? Of course they know that. … The same way they know if they commit certain offenses, they know the likelihood bail will be set is less.”
A representative for Gov. Hochul, responded to the Post, saying the governor continues to work with law enforcement to “improve the criminal justice system, combat violence, and strengthen public safety.” “Under Governor Hochul’s leadership, DOCCS has worked closely with law enforcement and continued to hold individuals accountable when they violate parole, including revoking parole when warranted and issuing 377 warrants for parole violations in September alone,” said rep Avi Small in a statement.
For her part, Hochul is courting the woke, progressive camp that is replete with socialists of all stripes. She is hammering away at the abortion issue, vowing that she will keep abortion legal in New York in spite of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v Wade. She is also a staunch advocate of gun control and wants to keep firearms out of the hands of law abiding citizens who wish to defend themselves, their homes, businesses and families.
At a political campaign rally that was held on Long Island on Saturday night, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was stumping for Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin in his bid for the position of the next governor of New York.
At the rally, Governor DeSantis said that Florida can be a model of what New York could be if Rep. Lee Zeldin is elected governor, according to a report on the Politico.com web site.
DeSantis told the crowd at the Long Island rally that a Republican governor has not been elected in New York since 2002 and that if Rep. Zeldin should win it “will be the 21st century version of the shot heard round the world,” as was reported by Politico.
In terms of escalating crime rates and the criminal justice arena, DeSantis said that Zeldin’s leadership would serve as a bulwark against those New Yorkers who wish to flee to Florida and other such states.
“I would say the number one thing I hear, where people get so fed up, is they are sick and tired of the crime that you see, particularly in New York City,” DeSantis said, as was reported by Politico.com. “Florida is a law-and-order state. I am a law-and-order governor. If Lee Zeldin gets into office, New York will become a law-and-order state.”
On Sunday morning, former Long Island Rep. Peter King lauded Zeldin’s efforts and success in recent polls. “This is an amazing surge that he’s generated here and to me it shows the strength of his campaign,” King, 78, said during a discussion of the gubernatorial race on WABC 770 AM’s “Cats Roundtable”.
The remarks were made after an average of recent polls compiled by FiveThirtyEight showed on Friday that Hochul only had a slight lead, despite the fact that New York is an overwhelmingly blue state. The same polls calculated that Zeldin has a 3 percent chance of pulling off an upset victory. Over the summer, Hochul had held a much wider, nearly 20 point lead, over Zeldin, based on polls.
King told host John Catsimatidis during the interview that Zeldin has been successful in raising himself up by focusing on crime, and highlighting the failure of the infamous bail reform laws enacted by Democrats. “I think some of the ideologues are caught up in this fantasy that if you want law and order somehow that makes you a racist,” the former homeland security House chairman said.
“I think Lee Zeldin showed the other night that he’s the person that can make New York safe and can keep jobs and businesses in New York and bring New York back,” King said. “It’s going to be a tough effort.”
(Source: NewYorkPost.com) –
Additional reporting by: Fern Sidman
