New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) assured residents Tuesday that the Big Apple enjoyed an "overwhelmingly peaceful" Labor Day weekend — despite the fact that a 6-year-old was shot along with nearly two dozen other people over the three-day span.
The far-left mayor is receiving pushback over his claim, given the fact that the city has been experiencing a sharp increase in crime after he cut $1 billion from the police department.
New York City saw horrific shooting incidents over the weekend, including one that occurred Monday at a Caribbean holiday street celebration in Brooklyn where a 6-year-old little boy, his mother, and three others were among the victims.
In reaction to that incident, de Blasio told reporters on Tuesday, "Thank God none have life-threatening injuries. Except for that incident, overwhelmingly we had a peaceful weekend in central Brooklyn and it really is because of the hard work of everyone."
Also on Monday, a man named Michael Scully, 62, was fatally shot while walking his dogs in Bay Ridge, according to The Daily Mail, who reported that "It's unclear who attacked him or what the motive was."
The outlet added, "Scully has been described as friends as a peaceful man."
De Blasio's description of the weekend drew scrutiny from the media. According to the New York Post, when "later pressed on characterizing the long weekend as 'peaceful,' [de Blasio] doubled down. 'I was talking about central Brooklyn,' he snapped at a reporter."
The mayor added, ""I think the entire nature of the NYPD is to think proactively and strategically and that's what we're seeing. Everything I'm seeing suggests more and more targeted activity by police, more and more police being moved where the need is greatest. The number of gun arrests now at the same level it was last year and in fact, it's been growing."
It's true that gun arrests hit a 25-year high of 160 in New York City last week, but The Post noted that according to its count "gun arrests are actually down 20 percent through late August, despite historically hovering around 30 to 33 percent."
The New York Daily News reported:
From Friday through Monday, the city suffered 23 total shootings, according to the NYPD. That compares to an average of 19 shootings on Labor Day weekend, Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said Tuesday on 1010 Wins. From Jan. 1 to Aug. 30, shootings went up 87% compared to the same time frame last year, according to NYPD stats.
Mayor de Blasio did not mention that he controversially pulled $1 billion from the NYPD earlier this year at the urging of activists, but blamed a "perfect storm" of circumstances on the uptick in crime.
"We had a long period of time where a huge percentage of the NYPD was out sick, we had the extraordinary additional burden placed on the NYPD by the coronavirus. I mean, come on," he told reporters. "When I say perfect storm, I don't use the phrase lightly."
He added, "It's been a health care crisis, an employment crisis, schools shut down. The very fabric of our society just torn apart by this horrible disease. It's not surprising that's there some comeback that's needed."
More than 350 New York City restaurants have joined a $2 billion class action lawsuit against Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) and Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) over the city's ban on indoor dining, arguing state and local officials have done "irreparable harm" with the coronavirus shutdown measure.
The state of New York has opened up indoor dining for everywhere except The Big Apple where only outdoor dining is allowed, leading (remaining) struggling New York City restauranteurs to take legal action as the city's COVID-19 numbers hit new lows and colder weather approaches.
The lawsuit was filed Thursday, and the next day, Cuomo said during a press call that he would not budge on the issue until the NYPD — whose funding was stripped by $1 billion in recent weeks by de Blasio — had in place a 4,000-strong task force of officers to enforce social distancing guidelines for the city, according to Reason.
Making the issue worse, neighboring New Jersey has allowed indoor dining, leaving New York City establishments to helplessly look on as their competitors reopen for business but they remain shuttered.
Joe Oppedisano, owner of Il Bacco in New York City, spearheaded the lawsuit.
Newsday reported:
Il Bacco is about one and a half blocks, or around 500 feet, away from the Nassau border, where restaurants are permitted to have indoor dining at 50% capacity. New York City is the only part of the state where indoor dining is still banned due to pandemic-based restrictions, though its percentage of positive COVID-19 tests is similar to the rest of the state. There is currently no timeline to open indoor dining for city restaurants, even as fall weather approaches, and owners are concerned that their doors will remain closed through the end of the year.
"Every restaurant is packed and me, a block and a half away, I can't open," Joe Oppedisano, owner of Il Bacco, said Monday in an interview. The restaurant can have customers on its rooftop, but not on the first two floors of the building. "And winter is coming," Oppedisano said. The weather is warm now, but what happens two or three weeks from now? And then when it rains? I'm lucky I have a rooftop and I have a cover I can open and close, but once it gets cold, I can't do that anymore."
According to The Daily Wire, Cuomo responded Monday:
I am aware of that competitive disadvantage for NYC restaurants … I'm aware that restaurants in New York City are very unhappy with doing no indoor dining, I understand the economic consequences, their argument will now be exacerbated [because of NJ] and it's something that we're watching and considering. I want as much economic activity as quickly as possible, we also want to make sure transmission rate stays under control. That is the tension.
The deterioration of New York City’s subway system shows us what happens when we confuse “social justice” for justice. Last week, I got off the L at Bedford Avenue to a commotion. It’s not unusual in New York City to disembark the subway to the sounds of a street musician or a scuffle, but this […]
www.theblaze.com
thefederalist.com