OPINION
Dems are turning NYC into a sanctuary city — for crooks!
BY BOB CAPANO
It all started innocently
enough when former Brooklyn
Democratic Councilman
Sal Albanese, who represented
Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights,
and Bensonhurst for 15 years,
noted on twitter last week that
“if you occasionally check @
citizensappnyc you can’t help
but notice the volume of incidents
involving guns in NYC.”
For those that are not experts
on social media, Citizen
is a mobile application that
provides crime and safety
alerts, real-time incident updates,
and live user-generated
video streams. The information
comes mostly from local
residents and users can track
what is being reported in their
neighborhood.
This innocuous tweet from
Albanese, who also ran in the
Democratic primary against
Mayor de Blasio in 2017,
sparked a sharp and defensive
rebuke from Councilman Justin
Brannan, also a Democrat
who now represents the same
district as Albanese did from
1983-1998.
After someone noted that
Brannan has questioned and
minimized the Citizen app, Albanese
said this was a case of
“denial” about crime. Brannan
harshly replied to one of
his predecessors, “Sal, you
have a bad habit of believing
everything anonymous trolls
tell u on here.” The current
Councilman referred to a column
he wrote that said Citizen
app “lacks credibility” and
is just “scaring the hell out of
people.”
This is the typical response
of progressives whenever anyone
dares to note that crime
just might be increasing because
of their policies that have
swung the pendulum of justice
heavily in favor of criminals
over victims and law abiding
BROOKLYNPAPER.COM
COURIER LIFE, D 38 ECEMBER 20-26, 2019
New Yorkers.
Over the past two months,
almost 100 cars had their tires
slashed or were keyed along
Shore Road in Bay Ridge. Proving
that these were no sporadic
incidents, fi gures show a clear
increase in some crimes in
the 68th Precinct compared to
last year, including robbery
(+31%), petty larceny (+12.3%),
and burglary (+4.5%), among
others.
When local GOP Assemblywoman
Nicole Malliotakis
spoke about these statistics and
the Shore Road incidents, she
blamed the progressive policies
and anti-cop rhetoric from
City Hall, but Brannan would
not have any of it. Instead, he
asked for more lights and police
on Shore Road. What Brannan
and his far-left brethren do
not get is that criminals do not
fear real consequences if they
are caught.
The Shore Road car vandalism
is the perfect example.
Brooklyn District Attorney
Eric Gonzalez recently announced
a new program for
those charged with vandalism,
like slashing and keying cars.
Instead of facing a judge, these
vandals are sent to a two hour
art class at the Brooklyn Museum
and! Not a word about
this from Brannan.
Even though “offi cial”
crime statistics may not show
a marked increase in all crime,
it does not render meaningless
the real and growing
fear people have. Brannan recently
tweeted, “A constituent
just told me she was very concerned
because there had been
‘so many rapes, shootings and
stabbings’ in our community
lately…of course, she was basing
this off the unfounded insanity
she sees on the Citizen
App.” Once again, the Councilman
gave the instinctive progressive
dismissal of anyone
who dares to claim that crime
is up, or even just feels less safe
today.
Albanese, who was a member
of the City Council Public
Safety committee, then challenged
Brannan to a debate
tweeting, “Always interested
in facts, Justin! Let me know
when you want to have a public
debate on public safety & I will
point how u & your patron Bill
de Blasio have demoralized
the NYPD. We can also review
crime stats in my old district &
also discuss how stats are manipulated.”
As a Republican and Reform
party candidate for City Council
in 2017, where Brannan ultimately
won, I also highlighted
the close professional and personal
relationship between
Brannan and de Blasio and
how this would likely cause
him to be restrained when
it came to standing up to the
Mayor on crime policies. Unfortunately,
this has become a
reality including with his vote
to blindly support de Blasio’s
plan to close Rikers Island,
which will require a drastic
decrease in the prison population
that will require releasing
more criminals on the streets.
Brannan has not accepted
the challenge from Albanese
but if he did, it would be an outstanding
discussion between
the criminal justice “reformers”
and the more sensible
moderate Democrats like Albanese.
It is unfortunate that so
many of today’s Democrats
have become hostages to the
far-left. They march in virtual
lock-step to pass legislation
that favor criminals, and are
silent when anti-police protesters,
like in Downtown Brooklyn
last month hold up signs
that say “Fu-k the police” and
“Don’t let these pigs touch us.”
Is it really any wonder why
criminals feel emboldened?
But, according to local Democrats
there is nothing to fear
and those who say otherwise
are just fear-mongerers.
THE RIGHT
VIEW
Bob Capano
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#1 LOCAL
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A speeding driver fatally struck a woman before smashing
through a construction site in Downtown Brooklyn during
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