Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and San Francisco Mayor London Breed traded slights on the levels of crime in Breed’s jurisdiction and New York City.
Hochul said in a Saturday MSNBC interview prior to her Tuesday election that New York City “will never be San Francisco” when it comes to crime, responding to host Stephanie Ruhle’s comment that New Yorkers “don’t feel safe” and fear they “could be San Francisco.” Breed told ABC 7 in a report published Wednesday night that crime was likely far worse in New York City on a statistical level, urging Hochul to visit San Francisco and witness the situation firsthand.
“If you look at the data, we’re probably pale in comparison to New York,” Breed said.
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“At the end of the day, to take what you see online and use that to try and develop some sort of opinion about San Francisco when that’s just seconds of the time versus every single day, is just not a fair assessment,” she argued, according to ABC 7. “My hope is that, you know, she’ll come visit and see for herself rather than what she sees in a video.” (RELATED: Now Mired In Crime, The City That Kicked Off The ‘Defund The Police’ Movement Is Struggling To Recruit New Officers)
Breed was not the only local political figure who took exception. Bay Area Council President and CEO Jim Wunderman called Hochul’s words “inaccurate and unfair,” lamenting that “if it came from Governor Abbott or Governor DeSantis, I suppose we would take it more in stride. But it coming from Governor Hochul in New York was really shocking and I think uncalled for,” ABC 7 reported.
Hochul’s Republican gubernatorial election opponent Lee Zeldin criticized her handling of crime in New York. About 28% of likely voters in a Quinnipiac University poll released Oct. 18 rated crime the state’s most urgent issue, outpacing any other.
San Francisco had a higher violent crime rate per 100,000 residents than New York City in 2019, but a lower rate the next year, according to data cited by the San Francisco Chronicle. New York City’s property crime rate was lower than San Francisco’s in both years.
Hochul and Breed’s offices and the Bay Area Council did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
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