In response to a Saturday shooting in the heart of New York City in broad daylight that left two women and a child injured, NYC Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa called to refund the city’s police, increasing the force’s budget which was previously cut by Mayor Bill de Blasio.

In an exclusive statement made to Breitbart News on Monday, Sliwa lamented that only after a tragic shooting could Democrats see the need for more police.

“Did you notice that it took a child being shot in broad daylight in Times Square for Democrat politicians to acknowledge that we need more police?” he asked.

Sliwa then stressed the need for “refunding” the New York City police force.

“People are shot every day in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx,” he said. “Since day one, I have called for refunding the police because we must protect ALL of our communities.”

Calling the Times Square shooting “horrific but, sadly, not surprising,” Sliwa attributed the rise in crime directly to the mayor’s prior defunding of police.

“Mayor de Blasio cut $1 billion in police funding last year. How has that worked out?” he asked. 

“Shootings and crime have been on the rise across all of New York City’s boroughs,” he continued. “And this rise in crime will not come to an end until we REFUND THE POLICE and hire more police.”

Sliwa then described the slashing of police budgets as a recipe for disaster.

“Just last week, AOC [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez], also known as All Out Crazy, told the democrats that if they want the endorsement of the DSA [Democratic Socialists of America] and the justice warriors to run for mayor, they would have to cut an additional $3 billion from the police budget,” he said. “That spells a-n-a-r-c-h-y.”

He also stated he would restore the “hero status” police once enjoyed.

“America is celebrating Police Appreciation Week this week. We will honor their service and sacrifice when we restore them to their hero status,” he concluded. 

Hours after the shooting on Saturday, Sliwa held a press conference in Times Square in which he called for police to “take back” the streets, adding, “When I become mayor, [dealing with] crime is priority number one.”

Three people — two women and a four-year-old girl — were wounded in Times Square on Saturday night as shootings in Mayor Bill de Blasio’s (D) New York City surged 83 percent.

The Daily Mail noted the four-year-old “was struck in the leg, a 24-year-old woman was hit in her thigh and a 44-year-old woman was shot in the foot.”

During the frantic moments following the shooting, dramatic video captured a New York City police officer running through Times Square with the injured four-year-old.

Subsequently, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) released video of a suspect wanted in connection with the shooting:

Last month, Sliwa warned that crime would continue to take a heavy toll on the city’s recovery if not dealt with.

“The candidates running for office don’t seem to understand that without public safety, our recovery grinds to a halt,” he told Breitbart News.

Last week, Sliwa joined former New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D) and Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) at a public event in front of a Bronx synagogue calling for the end of cashless bail and the use of “one standard for all hate.”

Statistics released this week by the NYPD show the city saw shootings increase by 166 percent in April 2021. In the same time frame, overall crime rose by 30 percent.

In April, Breitbart News revealed that Mayor de Blasio’s New York City saw 46 shooting incidents over a seven-day time frame. The incidents left behind 50 shooting victims.

New York adopted a large number of gun control measures in 2013 under the auspices of the SAFE Act. 

Those controls include universal background checks, a ban on “high-capacity” magazines and “assault weapons,” firearm registration requirements, and ammunition registration.

The New York government’s webpage notes the state also has a red flag law — which prevents individuals who show signs of being a threat to themselves or others from purchasing or possessing any kind of firearm — which took effect in late August 2019.

Follow Joshua Klein on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.