Waking Up on Crime

What do you know? Some City Council members — mostly Democrats! — finally figured out that New York’s criminal-justice “reforms” may be a bad idea.

On Thursday, 20 lawmakers wrote Gov. Hochul and the Legislature’s leaders demanding fixes to laws that have fueled the soaring city violence.

They want to give judges discretion to remand defendants charged with gun crimes based on criminal history and other factors. And reforms to the process that “allows for the almost-immediate release” of gun-violence suspects by shifting their cases to family court. It’s a start.

The laws “had the unintended effect of allowing people participating in gun violence to be released from custody within hours of their arrest — sending a dangerous message to would-be perpetrators,” the letter reads. Yes: Raise the Age and the botched no-bail laws left more criminals, and illegal guns, out on the streets, helping drive up murders, now up 43 percent so far this year vs. 2019.

We warned of a spike in violence in 2019, after lawmakers tied judges’ hands for most crimes in New York. Maybe our Oct. 2 cover story, picturing some of the 21 kids under 18 killed in street violence this year, finally got these lawmakers to care.

Or it may be constituent fury: The “numbers represent lost lives and a frightening nightmare for low-income, minority communities who have beared the brunt of this crisis,” the letter added.

Whatever prompted the shift, it’s welcome. But more’s needed: Give judges discretion over a far broader set of crimes. The new Less Is More Act is already proving a disaster and needs to be fixed or scrapped. Ditto for pre-trial discovery laws that leave witnesses afraid to step forward.

Here in the city, likely next mayor Eric Adams will need to restore the anti-crime undercover unit that got illegal guns off the street until a clueless Mayor de Blasio scrapped it. And relax local laws that handcuff cops.

Adams has already vowed to tackle crime, and now there’s fresh concern on the council. Cross your fingers that the tide’s about to shift.