Crime Jumps 36.5 Percent in New York City as Bail Laws Draw Scrutiny

Overall index crime in New York City jumped a staggering 36.5 percent last month compared to March of 2021 as the state’s soft on crime bail laws begin to shape the 2022 gubernatorial race.

There were 1267 robberies city-wide in March, which is a 48.4 percent leap from the 854 robberies in March of 2021, while the city tallied 1044 grand larcenies auto, a 59.4 percent climb from last year, the New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) crime statistics show.

Similarly, burglaries jumped 40 percent – 1326 in March 2022 vs. 947 in March 2021 – and there were 4078 instances of grand larceny, a 40.5 percent increase from 2902 in March 2021.

Felony assaults also saw an uptick. There were 1992 instances of felony assault last month, a 17.5 percent climb from 1696 in March 2021.

Transit crims saw a staggering 52.5 percent jump as well, as subway crimes, including a hammer attack, slashings, and beatings, made headlines last month. Some 78 percent of New York City office workers, who commute to work, said public transit safety has declined compared to pre-pandemic days, while 82 percent of them say the issue of homelessness has worsened on the transit system, a Morning Consult poll showed.

Moreover, hate crimes – especially against Jewish people – have seen an alarming jump. Overall, hate crimes increased 16 percent in March, with Jews being the most targeted group. There were 23 hate crimes committed against Jewish people, nearly a 100 percent increase from the 12 in March of last year. The second most targeted group was Asians, who were the victims of 17 hate crimes.

In 2019, New York’s disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed legislation into law allowing “suspects accused of second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, child sex crimes, and making threats of terrorism to walk free from jail without ever having to post bail,” Breitbart News reported.

“Coinciding with the state law is New York City’s Supervised Release Program, which allows thousands of criminal suspects to be released following their arrests without having to post bail or be monitored by social workers,” Breitbart News continued.

Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), who assumed office following Cuomo’s resignation, has proposed minor changes to the laws in the form of allowing judges to establish bail based on a defendant’s criminal past and making bail eligible for repeat offenders and gun-related crimes. Still, far-left jailbreak organizations – including those linked to Mark Zuckerberg and Geroge Soros – are lobbying against her proposals to ensure the laws go unchanged.

Breitbart News noted:

A number of jailbreak organizations — including the Soros-linked Center for American Progress, the Center for Popular Democracy, United We Dream, and MoveOn, as well as the Zuckerberg-linked FWD.us — are lobbying New York lawmakers to oppose any changes to the bail reform law.

“We are very troubled by recent proposals from Governor Kathy Hochul that would increase incarceration and racial disparities and undo years of work towards ending the criminalization of poverty and children,” the groups said in a letter.

The letter continued:

Mass incarceration was born of hasty political posturing and the fallacy that we can have justice or safety, but not both. Mass incarceration delivered generations of harm to the same Black, brown, poor, and immigrant communities hardest hit by crime without delivering them more safety. [Emphasis added]

That is why we are calling upon Governor Hochul, Lieutenant Governor Benjamin, and legislative leaders to protect bail, discovery, and Raise the Age reforms. [Emphasis added]

Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) who is a gubernatorial candidate in New York’s upcoming election, slammed the state’s bail reform laws in February, WSHU reported.

“Instead of handcuffing our criminals we’re handcuffing justice, we’re handcuffing our judges, we’re handcuffing police, we’re cuffing law abiding New Yorkers in order to secure our streets we have to put community way over criminals,” Zeldin said.