The mayor of New York Eric Adams, who a few weeks ago announced his plan to reduce crime in the Big Apple, met this Monday with the leaders of the State Legislature in Albany, to ask the state government for help with changes in some laws of the reform to the judicial system, which he assures have increased the wave of violence that plagues the city.
Adams maintains that the bail reform laws, raising the age of criminal responsibility and discovery of criminal records, have put dangerous people on the street who have ended up committing crimes, a point that defenders say it is not based on reality, as only 4% of those released without bail have reoffended and been arrested.
Although discussions with Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, passed in a friendly manner, according to the politicians themselves, and the commitment to continue holding new conversations to find tools that help reduce the crime wave in the five boroughs was open, Albany has remained in defend the reforms made to the laws.
After his shift in the state capital, Adams assured that he is clear that what happened on Monday is just the beginning of the dialogues with Alba ny, where he hopes that his cry will somehow be heard. However, he warned that if he does not receive the help he asks for, with the change in laws (seen by defenders as an act of justice with poor and backward communities), it will be more difficult for him to return security to the City, but he will work to comply. with that obligation.
“I shared my thoughts, they shared their thoughts and it was a very healthy dialogue… we will focus on doing what we can to keep our city safe”, said the New York Mayor. “If they help me with this, I think we can do more things, but if they don’t help me with the things that I highlighted in my safety plan, I still have an obligation to keep the city safe.”
Ready to act without help from Albany
Following his meeting with Albany leaders, like other state politicians, Adams gave his word to New Yorkers that he will not let the city continue with rampant crime, and that if Albany does not support him with what he asks, he is prepared.
“That is why I implemented the Anti-weapons Unit, that is why we are going to make sure that we follow the courts so that they fight crime… I cannot turn around and say: ‘since they did not help me different parts, so that’s why the city is like this now. No, I don’t accept that,” the president said, adding: “My job is to keep New Yorkers safe, it’s my job. If I get help from other places, that’s fine, but without that help I still have to make sure New Yorkers are safe and I’m not going to use any excuses. We are going to have a safe city”
Adams was insistent on asking lawmakers to consider amending the state’s recent bail reform law, allowing judges more flexibility to hold someone before trial , based on the perception of a threat to public safety, something that advocates believe would once again open the door to abuse and discrimination among the poor, Latinos, and blacks.
“We have to make sure we close the gaps in the law that allows dangerous people to be on the streets. We are using this time to identify everything that is wrong with the criminal justice system, and more than that, and that is precisely what my crime plan points out,” said Adams.
The president mentioned that in his conversations with Albany, in addition to talking about security , discussed Earned Income Tax Credit, universal child care, loans and other issues. “There are so many issues that we have to analyze that I have to navigate here. That’s how it’s done,” Adams said.
Legislators won’t back down
The leader of the Senate assured that the conversation with the Mayor was positive, but she showed that although solutions to crime must be sought, moving back the laws requested by Adams is not the plan.
“ We have to recognize that we clearly have a lot of concern about crime and that the increase in crime is a national problem, but we know that we have done important things in reforming the criminal system, and we know that we have to continue seeking to make the system better, in in the context of COVID, in the context of weapons proliferation and in the context of things that we know we have to do to keep New York safe,” Stewart-Cousins said.
Meanwhile, Heastie indicated: “The conversation was not about agreement or disagreement. . We know we have work to do with the Mayor, and how to work together. We have the same goal of keeping the city safe and we need to have conversations.”
After her visit, Assemblywoman Latrice Walker, from Brooklyn, asked the Mayor that instead of requesting that the criminal reform laws, invest in violence prevention.
“Today we are telling our mayor that instead of wanting to reverse a successful criminal justice policy, we need him to invest more resources on the same services to make bail reform an even greater success,” the policy said.
The Legal Aid Society organization appreciated that the leaders of the Legislature have expressed their rejection of the regressive changes to the bail reform and the increase in the criminal age, and assured that those changes should not be moved.
“Adding a dangerous provision to the existing bail statute would only circulate more black and Latino New Yorkers through d e our broken and punitive criminal legal system, fueling mass incarceration. Going back to a system where New York incarcerates more young people will not work because it never reduced crime or benefited public safety in the 100 years before it was pass Raise the Age reform or bail,” Legal Aid said in a statement.
“Albany legislators, in response to cries from their constituents for immediate action, good at making sweeping changes to a system that has historically failed to reduce crime and recidivism. Legal Aid Society stands in solidarity with Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, and other lawmakers who are prioritizing communities over cages and age-appropriate responses. teenagers”, they added.
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