BY FRANK VERNUCCIO
The young widow of fallen
police offi cer Jason Rivera did
more to combat crime than all
of the leftist district attorneys,
politicians and pundits combined.
The grieving but valiant
young lady called on the Manhattan
district attorney to do
what must be done to combat
the pandemic of crime that he,
and those who believe in his
soft on crime approach, have
caused. In doing so, she said
what the biased media and
leftist elected offi cials have
failed to say.
Here’s the reality: “Bail
reform,” “Defunding the Police,”
“De-incarceration” and
other actions are responsible
for the scourge of signifi cantly
increased crime in our cities,
and the murder of police offi
cers. Estimates place the
spike in homicides and violent
crime at 40%-60% as soft
on crime policies have been
emplaced. They are ludicrous
concepts that should never
have been attempted in the
fi rst place.
For several years, the Left
has justifi ed riots and crimes
committed by violent mobs
using the pretense that police
were engaged in assaulting
In January, offers Jason Rivera and Wilbert Mora were shot and killed responding to a domestic violence call in Harlem. Seven NYPD offi cers have
already been shot in 2022. Photo | Dean Moses
innocents. They produced an
environment in which defunding
cops and releasing convicts
became politically acceptable.
That doesn’t prevent
progressive politicians from
then shamelessly showing up
at the funerals of murdered
law enforcement personnel
and civilians and hypocritically
expressing shock and
sorrow, then pompously offering
“solutions” which don’t address
their own culpability for
the problem.
Rather than reverse soft
on crime moves and return
to policies that have actually
worked, leftists continue to
blame inanimate objects and
seek to instill even more intense
gun control measures.
The concept ignores the reality
that a criminal intent on
committing a murder, rape or
robbery will not give a damn
about breaking the law and acquiring
a weapon. And if you
think that somehow Washington
can prevent the manufacture
or importation of
guns, you have probably never
heard of the drug problem.
CIVIC CENTER
Korony Post 253
CIVIC CENTER
Pelham Parkway
Neighborhood Assoc.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, F 38 FEB. 11-17, 2022 BTR
Blaming inanimate objects,
like guns, for the crime
wave caused by soft-on-crime
policies ignores the reality
that, as noted by the Heritage
Institute, “America’s decades
long decrease in crime
occurred while gun ownership
remained high and even
climbed. If it really was guns
to blame, why did the surge
suddenly happen in 2020, and
in cities with strict gun control?…
‘defund the police’
wasn’t just a slogan. And it
wasn’t just ‘bad messaging,’
as some Democrat political
consultants have pointed out.
Instead, it became an idea
taken seriously by state and
local governments that pursued
a course that undermined
law and order and created
a nationwide epidemic of
criminality that may not soon
abate.”
These disgraceful policies
by progressive politicians
and DAs, many elected to offi
ce with the vast fi nancial assistance
of leftist billionaires,
have wreaked havoc in the
streets of our nation.
Anti-police rhetoric has
been harsh. Last year, to cite
just one example, U.S. Rep.
Cori Bush (D-Missouri) called
for the defunding of the police,
despite spending $700,000 on
her personal security. Harlem
Councilwoman, Democrat-
Socialist Kristin Richardson
Jordan, actually extended
her sympathies to the family
of the perpetrator who killed
offi cer Rivera (posthumously
promoted to detective fi rst
class). The councilwoman
wants to abolish policing.
In 2020, as reported in
The Hill, “Michael McHale,
the president of the National
Association of Police Organizations,
decried what he
described as a rash of violence
against police offi cers
in recent months and railed
against ‘failed’ elected offi -
cials in cities such as Minneapolis,
New York and Chicago
who he said had made ‘the
conscious decision not to support
law enforcement.’”
Research by Canada’s Fraser
Institute fi nds that “Any
real solution to criminal violence
is likely to be complex
and expensive, so the government
is attracted to waging
a symbolic campaign to win
votes. Since it is currently
fashionable to equate fi rearms
with violence, and there is an
emotional crusade against
fi rearms, the government sees
a political opportunity. Gun
control promises an easy victory…
but Gun control is not
crime control…gun control
proposals will not reduce violent
crime.”
A key reason soft on crime
policies do not work has to do
with recidivism. Essentially,
police are forced to re-arrest
the same criminals over and
over again because soft policies
keep releasing them. The
Bureau of Justice Statistics,
has found that seven in 10 incarcerated
people released
in 34 states were rearrested
within fi ve years, based on a
study for prisoners in 34 states
between 2012 and 2017.
CIVIC CENTER
Community Action
Civic Association
BY TONY SALIMBENE
Reminder, the regular
third Sunday meeting at 10:30
a.m. at American Turners NY
— 11 a.m. post meeting and 12
noon chow.
Starting a fairly simple National
Sons of the American
Legion Commander’s Project
soon and it won’t cost anything.
It has to do with placing
grave marker fl ags with a goal
of 1 million. Will run through
summer time, ground is probably
too frozen now.That’s it
for now. Thanks to those who
braved the cold for the 4 Chaplains
Mass and Chef Veronica.
Stay warm, spring is on the
way. Until Next Time: Work
for a cause not the applause.
BY THOMAS X. CASEY
The East Bronx History
Forum and the Huntington
Free Library are pleased to
announce the forum will hold
its 162nd meeting on Wednesday,
Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. with a
Zoom presentation, “The Lost
Synagogues of the Bronx”
presented by Ellen Levitt.
Levitt is the author of
“The Lost Synagogues of the
Bronx” and “Queens” (2011)
and two other books about
NYC’s lost synagogues.
Some of the former synagogue
buildings have undergone
changes, even in the past
few years. Levitt will
speak about these, as well as
other former Jewish institutions
in the Bronx, and also
a bit about those that are still
active.
Ellen Levitt is a former
NYC DOE high school teacher
and has written for several
websites and publications.
She is also a licensed tour
guide and her most recent
walking tour was for a Long
Island high school group,
along the Grand Concourse.
Please join us and explore
the history of synagogues in
the Bronx presented by Ellen
Levitt. The East Bronx
History Forum will post the
login details on our web page
at BronxNYC.com. Please
help defray the cost of the
meetings by using the donate
button. You will also receive
an email with Zoom information.
CIVIC CENTER
East Bronx
History Forum
BY LOUIS LUTNICK
The Pelham Parkway
Neighborhood Association
invites you to our February
general meeting. The meeting
will take place at 2134 Barnes
Ave., the corner of Lydia Avenue,
on Tuesday Feb., 8 at 7
p.m. Our guest this month
will be our new City Council
Member Marjorie Velázquez.
/BronxNYC.com