New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio disputes that crime in New York City is on the rise despite the recent Central Park muggings, spike in shootings, the rise in murders, and subway vandalism, among other criminal acts.
There were 44 shooting victims last week. This is a 76 percent increase from the prior week, New York’s CBS channel 2’s Diane Macedo reported.
“Well the NYPD statistics say — and Commissioner Bratton has made it quite clear that the overall crime rate of the major index crimes is going down in New York City even compared to last year, which was a record year in crime reduction,” de Blasio told The Daily Caller at a presser in Washington D.C.
“There are some areas where we clearly have to do better. We’re implementing a host of new strategies including freeing up an immense amount of police time to address serious crime, because we’re not doing the stop and frisk policy of the past,” he said.
De Blasio, who was in the nation’s capitol promoting the Progressive Agenda To Combat Income Inequality, noted that the NYPD is no longer arresting large numbers of young people for having a low amount of marijuana.
“So, a lot is being done right now to put additional resources out to address the problems we do have, but the fact is, and please check with the NYPD with this, overall index crime in New York City has gone down this year compared to the same time last year.”
As Mayor de Blasio becomes more of a national political figure, some in New York City are concerned he is spending too much time on the road campaigning on national liberal issues and not spending enough time in the city taking care of the crime issues at home.
“He’s entering a path that can be dangerous for big-city mayors,” Kenneth Sherrill, a retired political science professor at Hunter College, told CBS New York. “It’s not unusual for a New York City mayor to be a national speaker for urban issues. But it is unusual for one to be so concerned about his national political party and its issues.”