12 MAY 13, 2021 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
The unsafe reality
Traditionally, the head of the MTA
and the leader of its biggest labor
union are oft en on the opposite
sides of most things related to public
transit.
So we took notice when MTA Chair
and CEO Pat Foye and Transport
Workers Union Local 100 President
Tony Utano came together last week
to denounce the latest rash of subway
crime in Queens and around New York
City, and practically beg the city to step
up and do something to stop it.
“The city appears to have defunded the
NYPD on the subways,” Foye charged.
Utano elaborated by pointing out that
the subway and bus workers his union
represents have been regularly “spit on
… punched … and stabbed.”
“And then you have a mayor who says
there’s no problem,” he added.
That’s not entirely accurate, but
Mayor Bill de Blasio has downplayed the
seriousness of the recent crime spike in
New York City — with major crimes up
30 percent in April alone, and shootings
skyrocketing by 166 percent.
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Mayor de Blasio must increase the NYPD’s presence, and help ensure our safe comeback from COVID-19.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
During a press conference last week,
de Blasio blamed the shooting spike on
a few bad apples spoiling the Big Apple,
saying, “There’s a very small number of
people” — a few thousand, he surmised
— ”committing the acts of violence.”
Even if that were true, it doesn’t shake
the incredible insecurity New Yorkers
are feeling. When they read about
subway workers getting attacked, or
dozens of people being shot on a spring
weekend, or overall crime ballooning
to levels unseen in years, residents
become alarmed enough to think twice
about going out.
And that’s the last thing they need as
the city recovers from COVID-19.
The mayor can’t brush off the MTA,
nor TWU Local 100, nor the public
any longer when it comes to crime.
We applaud the eff orts made to fi nd
alternative enforcement to help stop
crime — from expanded mental health
services to violence interrupters. But
it’s not enough.
The simple answer is also the right
one: We need more cops on the streets
and subways, and we need them today.
It’s pollyannaish to think that we can
keep our city safe without the NYPD;
they are, indeed, necessary for the
city’s safety. We must not accept police
brutality or racial injustice, and we
refuse to believe that the NYPD cannot
do its job under the new reforms being
implemented.
Mayor de Blasio must increase the
NYPD’s presence, and help ensure our
safe comeback from COVID-19.
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