Eric Adams became New York’s mayor a year ago largely because he promised to address the rampant crime that had overtaken the city; voters believed that, as a former NYPD captain, he had the credentials to follow through. From all we can see, however, Mayor Adams continues to be stymied by a governor who refuses to buck the hardcore progressives in control of the state Senate and Assembly in Albany. It’s time Governor Kathy Hochul acknowledged the obvious and pushed for repeal of the recent woke bail reforms and for woke prosecutors to rigorously enforce criminal law.
Gov. Hochul continues to amaze with her persistent downplaying of the crime crisis. During her latest gubernatorial campaign, she ridiculed her Republican opponent Rep. Lee Zeldin over his relentless emphasis on crime. She even referred to Republicans raising the crime issue as “master manipulators” in a “conspiracy” to generate concern amongst voters. Now that the midterms are over, she has reportedly decided that she will not treat crime prevention as a stand-alone issue, but rather will fold it into negotiations over the annual state budget.
It is revealing that the mayor’s stress on crime is cited as a reason Rep. Zeldin came so close to defeating Gov. Hochul in overwhelmingly Democratic New York. According to the New York Times, Adams, a Democrat, was accused by some of “betraying” his party by elevating “the Republicans’ crime panic narrative.” Others accused him of “fear-mongering” upstate New Yorkers into voting Republican.
To be sure, the governor maintains that the data is not clear that bail reform is at the root of the increased crime; and as such, further revision would be premature until there is more clarity. Yet the governor’s position is counterintuitive: With crime continuing to rise, the onus is on her to demonstrate that bail reform is not a factor, not the other way around.
During most of the campaign, the governor downplayed the crime issue. But when Rep. Zeldin kept rising in the polls, Gov. Hochul finally vowed on the morning of election day to start fixing New York, “first thing tomorrow.”
Madame Governor: Mayor Adams and the rest of us are still waiting for a sign.
