OpEd by Micah Morrison, chief investigative reporter for Judicial Watch

Judicial Watch has been documenting rising social disorder in New York City at the hands of Mayor Bill de Blasio and radical activists in Albany and Washington.

Last year, Democrats rammed through the state legislature a reform package that eliminated cash bail for a wide range of offenses—from assault, arson and child abuse to manslaughter, robbery and riot—and removed judicial discretion in holding suspects.

Advocates for the measure correctly note that bail often discriminates against the poor—if you can’t afford bail, you sit in jail.

But bail also offered a way to hold repeat offenders, including violent ones, behind bars until trial.

The reform legislation took effect January 1 and crime rates jumped.

Numbers just in for the first two months of 2020 show a 35 percent increase in robberies and a 64 percent increase in stolen cars compared to the same period in 2019, the New York Post reports.

(The NYPD has released its first monthly crime stats since the state enacted its new bail reform initiatives, and it shows an increase in nearly all crimes except murders and rapes. Courtesy of the Eyewitness News ABC7NY and YouTube. Posted on Feb 4, 2020. #NYPD #crime)

Shootings, up 19 percent. Burglaries, up 21 percent.

Subway robberies are up sharply, with an increase of more than 100 percent in 2020 compared to 2019.

NYPD insiders say subway robberies are largely driven by repeat juvenile offenders targeting other kids.

A subway security official tells Judicial Watch that crime underground is widespread.

In the city’s school system—the biggest in the country—parents speak with anguish about assaults on their children.

And anti-Semitic hate crimes are significantly up in the city with America’s largest Jewish population.

All this has contributed to a growing sense of unease in New York.

The politics of bail reform pit New York’s rising progressive forces against a cadre of Democrats who recognize a looming disaster when they see it.

(New York passed the most progressive bail reform in the country, but less than two months after implementation, lead Democrats may roll it back. Courtesy of Newsy and YouTube. Posted on Feb 17, 2020.)

At a contentious town hall meeting last month in Forest Hills, Queens, de Blasio rejected complaints about links between rising crime and bail reform as “right-wing propaganda,” but he supports fixes to the law being pushed in Albany.

Progressive firebrand Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is on the other side of the Democrat debate, calling on Albany to “slow down” on any legislative changes.

By “slow down,” of course she means do nothing. If Ocasio-Cortez and her allies had their way, prisons would be entirely abolished.

(A bail reform law that rolled out nearly six weeks ago in New York has divided Democrats in the state. The City reporter Reuven Blau joined CBSN AM to break down the bill and explain the controversy. Courtesy of CBS News and YouTube. Posted on Feb 18, 2020.)

The outcome of the bail reform fight will say a lot about progressive power in Albany.

Democrats outnumber Republicans by almost seven to one in New York City, so don’t hold your breath waiting for conservative reform.

But there are straws in the wind that suggest change might be stirring.

One is the surprisingly vigorous campaign of veteran prosecutor Jim Quinn for Queens borough president.

Quinn beat his five rivals for the post in the latest fundraising reports and has been making waves with his criticism of liberal excesses such as the bail reform law and the closing of the Rikers Island jail complex.

On Twitter, Quinn called out Ocasio-Cortez and her allies for their “dangerous, radical agenda” and for “ignoring double-digit crime spikes & the victims impacted.”

.⁦@AOC⁩ & her wanna-be’s in the BP race are willfully ignoring double digit crime spikes & the victims impacted. We need action now & the only way to get it is by electing leaders who can fight their dangerous, radical agenda. https://t.co/LGQfhNlS1R

— Jim Quinn (@QuinnforQueens) February 17, 2020

Them’s fightin’ words in New York.

The election is March 24 in a field crowded with liberal contenders surfing the progressive wave.

But Quinn’s conservative message may resonate with a different sort of voter—like the one who told Bill de Blasio at the Forest Hills town hall meeting, “Mr. Mayor, I do not feel safe.”

(New York State Assembly Republicans called for the full repeal of the Criminal Justice Reforms based on the consequences of the new rule. One of those effects was seen in the City of Tonawanda when a judge took to Facebook to share his frustration with the new state bail reform laws. Courtesy of WKBW TV | Buffalo, NY and YouTube. Posted on Jan 15, 2020.)

About the Author

Micah Morrison is chief investigative reporter for Judicial Watch.

He is axpert in FOIA-based reporting and litigation, experienced in high-stakes investigations & complex large-scale projects. National print, digital and TV media.

Micah is a member, Community Education Council 28, supporting NYC schoolkids and families. 

Follow him on Twitter @micah_morrison. Tips: mmorrison@judicialwatch.org.

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