Gov’s danger warning
Blasts NYC over crime surge
The Big Apple’s wave of gun violence is “getting worse,” Gov. Cuomo said Thursday as he railed at the city for not yet adopting a police reform plan like he previously ordered.
“New York City — shootings with victims up 103 percent,” Cuomo pointed out during a Manhattan press briefing.
“It’s negative and it’s bad and people are dying, and the overwhelming majority of those victims are black and brown,” he said. “And everybody has the sense that crime is worse and the city is not as safe at the same time we are trying to get people back” who fled amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The governor added, “It’s getting worse.” Gun violence in Gotham started dramatically spiking during the end of spring and start of summer as COVID-19-related restrictions loosened in the city.
June was particularly violent with 205 shootings clocked — the most recorded during a June since 1996 — though NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea has claimed that things have cooled down since.
“We have a problem in New York City when it comes to crime — that is a fact, that is a fact,” Cuomo said Thursday. “It’s not gonna get better on its own.
“It’s not a normal environment where you can play your normal police and politician dance,” he said. “It’s time to lead.”
Overall, crime is down 1.5 percent for the year, according to NYPD figures through Sunday.
In June, Cuomo issued an executive order requiring each local government in the state to adopt a policing reform plan by April 1, 2021 — following tensions after the May 25 killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.
On Thursday Cuomo blasted the city for not yet submitting a plan.
“Why isn’t New York City doing it? The mayor can lead it, the City Council . . . could lead it,” he said. “If none of them want to lead it, I will find someone to lead it — just tell me you don’t want to.”
Mayor de Blasio spokesman Bill Neidhardt said of Cuomo’s comments, “Echoing Donald Trump’s attacks on New York City is not helping our recovery.”
Everybody has the sense that crime is worse and the city is not as safe. — Gov. Cuomo