We get that Mayor Adams wants to accentuate the positive, but his happy talk on crime just isn’t cutting it.
In a radio interview before Sunday’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade, for example, he claimed that “isolated incidents” have created an “energy” that “our city is a place of disorder,” which he slammed as “just a lot of BS. The city is resilient.”
Astonishingly, he even insisted “our subways are safe” just days after a man was shot with his own gun after instigating a fight on the A train.
Adams also dusted off his oft-repeated line that New York is “the safest big city in America” — the same day a madman stabbed 19-year-old twins in Brooklyn, one fatally, after they rejected his advances.
On Monday, cops had to take out an active shooter who was chasing a couple down the street, while an enraged LIRR rider slashed another passenger in the face.
Enough “isolated incidents” add up to an actual pattern of real disorder, yet the mayor contends that media coverage creates a mere perception problem, even as he admits that “how people feel is important.”
Fine, homicides and shootings were down in 2023 compared to 2022, but crime is still well above 2019 levels.
And 2024 has already brought more subway-shooting victims than all 2023, while official stats show 2024 subway crime is up 13.2% over the same period last year.
Plus, people’s “perceptions” include noticing that all the toothpaste is locked up at the drugstore, and the bodega down the block only lets in a few customers at a time deli — and that you see multiple people skipping the fare every time you get on the subways.
Even if you don’t mind the acrid reek of pot everywhere, New York City is full of signs that the forces of disorder not only have the upper hand, they know it.
The rule of law hasn’t completely broken down, but it’s sure on its back foot.
Not to mention the mental-health system’s failure to keep the seriously unwell off the street.
Everyday New Yorkers feel more unsafe than ever; more of us are are traumatized by the “new normal” in the city every day.
New Yorkers are resilient, but they’re not stupid.
Adams’ happy talk only makes him look out of touch, and offers cover for the authors of this decay: the lawmakers and prosecutors who keep empowering law-breakers and the political machines that give us “let ’em loose” judges.
Instead of deflecting the public’s fear and anger, Mr. Mayor, try directing it where it belongs.
