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Is crime a growing problem in New York? It’s not, according to Mayor Eric Adams, who says it is rather a perception problem fueled by negative stories in the media. But a new Siena College poll contends that 87% of New Yorkers think crime is a somewhat or very serious problem, and 41% of New York State residents say they have never been as concerned with their safety as they are now.
Melissa DeRosa, Democratic strategist and former secretary to Andrew Cuomo, says Adams should pay attention to those numbers. Speaking on 710 WOR’s Len Berman and Michael Riedel in the Morning program, DeRosa says the mayor risks being a one-termer if he doesn’t respond to what the citizens believe. “I think that the polling numbers this week are very troubling for Adams,” DeRosa told Berman and Riedel. “I think they’re troubling for Democrats across the board, and I think that, if people don’t get a wake-up call fast, they’re going to feel it electorally, but worse, they’re going to see more of an exodus from the city, and that would be bad for everybody.”
Without piling on, DeRosa calmly explained why Adams, and ultimately all elected officials, should accept what the numbers indicate. “Don’t tell people that what they’re seeing and feeling is not real. That’s when you’re going to lose the public. Elected officials work for the public, not the other way around… There is a different feeling in the city right now, and when you’ve got even Alvin Bragg- Mister ‘Let Everybody Out Of Jail’, Mister ‘Holds Nobody Accountable for Anything’- saying yesterday that he gets fearful when he hears that a family member is getting on the subway, it’s like, ‘Wake up, guys! There’s a problem’!”
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