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Blas’ Crime Denial

In the wake of the appalling Times Square shooting, Mayor de Blasio is diving deeper into denial, insisting the city “is a very safe place” even as he suddenly declares, “We need Congress to help us to stop the flow of guns into New York City” to reverse the rise in gunfire but also: “The NYPD is out there constantly making adjustments, sending officers where they’re needed most.”

Somehow, that’s supposed to answer the simple fact that shootings this year are double the 2019 level and still headed up.

Look: The city might be safe compared with the bad old days, but it’s headed back there. And tourists and suburbanites see the still-rising shooting stats and high-profile incidents — like the crossfire that just wounded a 4-year-old out shopping for toys — and plan to stay away.

The “flow of guns”? We’ve called on Congress and the president to do more, but the fact is that New York City managed to sink gun crime all on its own, with proactive policing that this mayor opposes. The difference now isn’t more guns coming in, but that the bad guys feel safe carrying all the time.

Sure, the NYPD adjusts — as best it can. It managed fine after abandoning widespread stop-and-frisk (in part because its ranks finally grew larger again after the early

Bloomberg-era budget cuts). But the state no-bail law ensures that dangerous repeat offenders are back on the streets soon after arrest, even for carrying — and the disbanding of the last undercover unit dedicated to getting guns off the street made it less likely they’d get popped in the first place.

Plus, it’s not just that street cops don’t believe the mayor and City Council have their backs — they laugh at the idea. Even dedicated officers have to think twice before taking any risks to their careers.

The obvious place to start turning this around is right where Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams wants to begin: with a reconstituted anti-gun unit. But de Blasio insists there’s “a better way to go” and hides behind Police Commissioner Dermot Shea’s supposed agreement — when Shea in fact said even as he was shutting the unit down that he feared it could bring big trouble.

New Yorkers shouldn’t have to wait for their next mayor for action. De Blasio’s supposed role model, Mayor David Dinkins, moved aggressively against crime toward the end of what turned out to be his only term, signing on to the “Safe Streets, Safe City” plan to boost the size of the force and bringing in no-nonsense Ray Kelly as his police commissioner.

Be more like Dinkins, Mr. Mayor.

OPINION

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2021-05-11T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-05-11T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://nypost.pressreader.com/article/281908776024672

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