New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has been taken to task over New York City‘s crime surge on what would be traditionally media-friendly: MSNBC.
But Stephanie Ruhle, hose of ‘The 11th Hour,’ interrupted Hochul’s interview to cut to the chase, bluntly telling her: ‘We don’t feel safe.’
‘Here’s the problem. We don’t feel safe,’ Ruhle said. ‘You might be working closely with Mayor Adams, you may have spent a whole lot of money, but I walk into my pharmacy and everything is on lockdown because of shoplifters.
‘I’m not going in the subway. People don’t feel safe in this town. So, you may have done these things. But right now, we’re not feeling good. We’re worried we could be San Francisco?’
Gov. Kathy Hochul has been taken to task over New York City’s perceived crime surge on what would be traditionally friendly territory: MSNBC
‘Here’s the problem. We don’t feel safe, you might be working closely with Mayor Adams, you may have spent a whole lot of money but I walk into my pharmacy and everything is on lockdown because of shoplifters,’ anchor Stephanie Ruhle said
‘We’ll never be San Francisco,’ Hochul fired back. She said the ‘most heinous’ crimes, meaning homicides, and shootings were actually down compared to this time last year.
Hochul added that she was taking steps to tackle increases in crime in other categories, but Ruhle wasn’t satisfied.
‘It doesn’t matter what’s happening in other cities or other states. The reason people don’t feel safe in New York is why they’re starting to say, can Kathy Hochul be the right governor, right? It doesn’t really matter what’s happening in Pennsylvania or San Francisco, you need to get New Yorkers’` votes. And safety is a top issue for us.’
The suspect was perp walked out of a Manhattan precinct on Thursday night after the alleged attack
Pictured: Carl Phanor, a 29-year-old homeless man, was taken into custody for the rape of a 43-year-old jogger in the West Village on Thursday
In the latest shocking incident, a woman was jogging by Pier 45, near West and Christopher Streets in the West Village, at around 5:30 a.m. earlier this week, when Carl Phanor, 29, grabbed her from behind and choked her until she passed out.
Phanor, who has 25 priors and who is wanted for at least two other sex crimes, then removed her clothes, raped her, and fled the scene on a CitiBike with her headphones, cell phone and wallet.
The shaken victim was spotted by a fellow jogger, and first responders took her to a nearby hospital.
Phanor is also wanted for an attempted rape in October, and the sexual assault of another jogger long Pier 40 in March.
He was busted at the Port Authority bus terminal after police found him using the latest victim’s credit cards at a Target in Midtown, purchasing $39 worth of Red Bull.
Crime continues to run rampant in the Big Apple, with violent offenses up nearly 30 percent
It also comes as crimes on the city’s subways are now up 41 percent over last year, murders in particular rising to their highest rates in 25 years, with nine reported this year alone
Crime in the Big Apple has risen since Hochul became state governor in 2021.
Critics say the surge is driven by repeat offenders who are released under the state’s lax 2019 bail reform laws.
The issue of crime could well be the difference as to whether Hochul secures victory during Tuesday’s elections. She is now neck-in-neck with Long Island GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin.
‘In Kathy Hochul’s New York, law-abiding New Yorkers are forced to live in fear. Come January, in Lee Zeldin’s New York, criminals will be the ones forced to live in fear,’ Zeldin tweeted. ‘Election Day is 5 days away. It’s time to take our streets back.’
US Rep and New York gubernatorial hopeful Lee Zeldin slammed Gov. Kathy Hochul for the latest rape incident and surge in crime in the Big Apple
Violent crimes are up nearly 30 percent compared to last year.
So far this year, police have reported 1,384 cases of rape in the city, up nearly 11 percent from the same time last year.
Felony assaults are also up by nearly 14 percent, with 21,767 cases reported so far this year, and robberies are up more than 32 percent compared to last year.
There have been 102,914 serious offenses reported since the beginning of the year, compared with 78,892 in the same period of 2021, the latest NYPD data reveals.
Although the number of shooting victims and murders are reportedly down, the overall rise in violent crime has prompted the city to send out its elite officers to areas with a ‘high volume’ of crime.
20 precincts will get extra cops to deal with rising crime, which is up citywide by 30% this year
The NYPD’s Strategic Response Group is an elite unit deployed to violent crime and protests
Plans to deploy the Strategic Response Group, which has been criticized for its handing of BLM protests, are detailed in a police memo which also lists 20 precincts that will receive extra officers to deal with soaring crime.
They include eight precincts in the Bronx, six in Manhattan, three in Brooklyn and three in Queens, the Post reported.
The NYPD’s Strategic Response Group is an elite unit which is deployed to areas facing surging crime.
The unit, which is made up of ‘highly trained personnel and specialized equipment’, is also skilled in crowd control and can be deployed for major events, including parades and protests.
It also deals with ‘shootings, bank robberies, missing persons, demonstrations, or other significant incidents,’ the NYPD says.
The city’s transit system appears to be bearing the brunt in surging crime, with about 1,865 reports so far in 2022, a 41.7 percent spike from last year.
Mayor Eric Adams has repeatedly claimed there is only a ‘perception’ that crime is out of control on the subways – even as he and Gov. Hochul have spent millions of taxpayer dollars to better police and monitor the system.
Under pressure to crackdown on crime in the subways, Adams said he would bolster the transit system with more police and extra security measures.
The new initiative, Adams said, will add 1,200 more shifts, or 10,000 more hours per day, to enhance security in the system.
The plan came into addition to Adam’s initial Subway Safety Plan, a $97billion undertaking that has since swelled to a $100billion project after being implemented by the then-new mayor in February.
The plan saw 1,000 additional officers deployed in the subway to stop the already prevailing violence, as well as teams of health workers into the city’s intricate subterranean network to crack down on crime.
Two people have been killed being shoved onto tracks this year, with 25 cases in total so far