Is the Dramatic Increase in NYC Shootings “a Direct Rebuke” of Mayor De Blasio’s Policies?

     By Yehudit Garmaise

     Shootings skyrocketed last week in New York City by 257%, the NYPD reported.

     “We are going fight back this challenge,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio, who noted the increase in gun violence in the city since the start of the pandemic. “There is no question about it. It is a real thing.”

     A reporter, however, asked the mayor, whether the substantial uptick in almost every type of crime reflects directly on his leadership.

   “How is this [dramatic increase in crime] not a rebuke of your policing strategy and your gun strategy?” the reporter pointedly asked the mayor at his press conference this morning.

     When questioned about crime and gun violence throughout the pandemic throughout the last year, the mayor has repeatedly blamed the “the perfect storm” created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

   “This year is going to be very, very different,” promised the mayor, who has, in the past, told BoroPark24 that he thought the vaccine would help to reduce the “dislocation” caused by the pandemic, and therefore, reduce crime.

   “It’s a convenient narrative to lay the blame on the doorstep of COVID,” said Pat Brosnan, the CEO, and co-founder of national security and intelligence firm Brosnan Risk Consultants, in March. “Granted, COVID is a contributing factor, there is no doubt about it,” but he added, the pandemic is only one small explanation for increased crime in New York City.

     In addition, in November, a retired NYPD police detective told the New York Post that the city’s increased lawlessness is the result of months of sometimes unchecked riots, the mayor’s NYPD budget cuts, and his efforts at police reform.

   Despite the mayor’s correlation of the pandemic and crime, the city has vaccinated more than 5 million New Yorkers, yet just last week, the NYPD reported statistic that showed a 36% increase in crime for the week ending April 4, compared to the same week in 2020.

   “We are going to fight [crime] back with the NYPD working closely with communities,” said the mayor. “We are going to fight it back with a lot of gun arrests, which is exactly what you are seeing.

   “The NYPD is doing an outstanding job with gun arrests. We will turn the tide.”