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| Murder rate is rising rapidly in the New York City (2014). |
Who could have predicted that electing a Dinkins aide whose only calling card was viral videos made by his obnoxious son and junkie daughter would backfire running on a 1970s platform of class warfare, racial tensions and empowering criminals would backfire?
As his first month as police commissioner under Mayor de Blasio winds down, Bill Bratton is already facing some sobering news — a 33 percent spike in murders across the city.
According to the latest statistics released Tuesday, there have been 28 homicides so far this year compared to 21 in the same period last year. That puts the city on course for at least one murder a day.
At Least A Murder A Day In The New York City
Last year, the Big Apple racked up 334 homicides in 365 days, the lowest in the city’s recorded history.
“This is the residual effect of de Blasio’s backlash against stop-and-frisk,’’ the source said. “Cops aren’t stopping people and taking guns off the street, which emboldens the criminals,” the source said. Another veteran investigator agreed, saying, “Cops are reticent about making stops because they don’t want to get punished.”
Police statistics also for the past 26 days — the most recent figures available — show that gun recoveries are way down. There was a drop of 31.1 percent, or 208 guns recovered compared to 302 last year.
As I wrote before, much of the gun violence in America is really gang violence. And if you don’t control the gangs, you turn into Chicago. Stop and Frisk was one of the best tools for controlling gang violence and protecting black communities.
Now Bill de Blasio has taken that tool
away and violence is on the increase. So is the murder rate.
Socialist Mayor Boycotts St. Patrick's Day Parade over Gays
The St. Patrick's Day Parade does not ban gays from participating in the parade, but it does not allow them to identify themselves by their sexual orientation. De Blasio says he disagress with that policy.
The St. Patrick's Day Parade does not ban gays from participating in the parade, but it does not allow them to identify themselves by their sexual orientation. De Blasio says he disagress with that policy.
Mayor Bill de Blasio is taking a stand
against the policy of the St. Patrick's Day Parade — much like Mayor Dinkins
did 20 years ago. For the first time in 20 years, a New York mayor is
boycotting the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in a protest over its ban on marchers
who carry gay-pride signs.
“I am not planning on marching in the
parade,” Mayor de Blasio said at a City Hall press conference on Tuesday. “I
will be participating in a number of other events to honor the Irish heritage
of this city, but I simply disagree with the organizers of that parade,” he
added.
Parade planners have said gays are
welcome to join the procession, which is expected to draw more than 1 million
people on March 17, but they cannot identify themselves in any way by their
sexual orientation.
City Council Speaker Melissa
Mark-Viverito a Socialist from Puerto Rico also pledged not to march. “I have
an incredibly strong trajectory of being a strong ally on issues regarding
social justice and equity for the LGBTQ community, so I will definitely not
march,” she said. “The mayor took a very bold step and decision in deciding not
to march.”
But De Blasio rebuffed a move from his
supporters, including Public Advocate Letitia James, to ban uniformed city
workers from marching in the salute to the city’s Irish-American heritage.
The last time a New York City mayor
declined to march in the boisterous parade up Fifth Ave. was in 1993, when
Mayor David Dinkins refused to take part because of the gay issue. Last Mayor
Michael Bloomberg participated every year. But former Council Speaker Christine
Quinn — who is an Irish-American lesbian — did not march.
City Controller Scott Stringer and City
Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Queens) said they would also avoid the
decades-old display of pageantry. Mayor Giuliani and Gov. Pataki were not
opposed to the St. Patrick's Day Parade.
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| Mayor Giuliani marching in St. Patrick Day Parade. |
Van Bramer, who is openly gay and was
arrested for marching in the parade with a gay-pride banner in 2000, praised de
Blasio for his “strong stand against discrimination.” “I find it offensive that
the parade takes a formal and hard line that I can’t participate,” Van Bramer
said. “That literally shuts out huge portions of our city.”
Not everyone took the mayor’s side. Mayor
Koch was a regular face at the St. Patrick's Day Parade. Bill Donohue,
president of the Catholic League, said in a sardonic statement that he was
thrilled by de Blasio’s decision.
“Personally, I am delighted,” Donohue,
who leads his organization’s delegation in the parade, wrote in the statement
posted on the League’s website. “I do not want to march with a public official
who does not want to be associated with Irish Catholics,” he added.
City Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Queens)
said he was disheartened that the mayor would not participate. “Mayor de Blasio’s decision not to
march in this year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade is truly unfortunate and
disappointing,” he said. “I am hoping Mayor de Blasio will reconsider his
decision and participate in one of New York’s most time-honored traditions.”
A spokesman for the Archdiocese of New
York said Timothy Cardinal Dolan, who missed last year’s parade because he was
taking part in the election of a new Pope in the Vatican, was on a retreat and
not available for comment.
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| Mayor Bloomberg. |
Public Advocate Letitia James was one
of several politicians who signed a letter asking de Blasio to ban uniformed
city employees from marching in the parade.
“The presence of uniformed police and
firefighters in such a procession sends a clear signal to LGBTQ New Yorkers
that these personnel, who are charged with serving and protecting all New
Yorkers, do not respect the lives or safety of LGBT people,” the letter states.
De Blasio responded that city workers
can participate if they wish. “I believe uniformed city workers have a right to
participate if they choose to, and I respect that right,” he said. Calls to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade
Committee were not returned late Tuesday.
The President of The Catholic League
says he is “delighted” that New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio will not be
marching in this year’s St Patrick's Day Parade. Bill Donohue made the remark
after De Blasio said he would boycott the event because organizers will not
allow participants to carry gay pride signs.
The head of the nation’s largest
Catholic civil rights organization explained that he did not want to march with
any public official who do not want to be associated with Irish Catholics.
Donohue asserted that the parade honors the Catholic Saint Patrick and that it
is not a political parade. Pro-life signs are also prohibited.
“The parade is not about homosexuals, or abortion, or anything other
than honoring St. Patrick,” the Catholic league said in a press release. Parade
planners have said gays are welcome to join the procession, which is expected
to draw more than one million people on March 17.
Donohue has gone on the radio to dispel
the myth that the parade is anti-gay. “I have invited gays to march with the
Catholic League, provided they do not draw attention to themselves or to some
extrinsic cause,” the News release further states.
On Tuesday, the newly elected mayor
said at a City Hall press conference, “I am not planning on marching in the
parade. I will be participating in a number of other events to honor the Irish
heritage of this city, but I simply disagree with the organizers of that
parade."
City Council Speaker Melissa
Mark-Viverito will be joining the mayor by sitting out during the parade. She
applauded the mayor for the “very bold step and decision” to stand up for gay
rights. She added, “I have an incredibly strong trajectory of being a strong
ally on issues regarding social justice and equity for the LGBTQ community, so
I will definitely not march.”
Also supporting De Blasio is openly gay
City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Queens), who was arrested at the 2000 St.
Patrick’s parade for carrying a gay pride banner. “I find it offensive that the
parade takes a formal and hard line that I can’t participate,” Van Bramer said.
“That literally shuts out huge portions of our city."
On the other hand, City Councilman Eric
Ulrich (R-Queens) expressed disappointment that the mayor is not marching.
“Mayor De Blasio’s decision not to march in this year’s St. Patrick’s Day
Parade is truly unfortunate and disappointing,” he said. “I am hoping Mayor de
Blasio will reconsider his decision and participate in one of New York’s most
time-honored traditions.”
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| Pro-Muslim Socialist Mayor of New York City Bill De Blasio announcing his decision to boycott thousand-years-old Christian tradition the venerable St. Patrick Day Parade in New York City. |