{"id":445724,"date":"2022-05-12T02:33:45","date_gmt":"2022-05-11T23:33:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/adams-must-do-more-than-complain-about-criminal-coddling\/"},"modified":"2022-05-12T02:33:45","modified_gmt":"2022-05-11T23:33:45","slug":"adams-must-do-more-than-complain-about-criminal-coddling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/adams-must-do-more-than-complain-about-criminal-coddling\/","title":{"rendered":"#Adams must do more than complain about criminal coddling"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2da9fac20e3\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2da9fac20e3\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/adams-must-do-more-than-complain-about-criminal-coddling\/#%E2%80%9CAdams_must_do_more_than_complain_about_criminal_coddling%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Adams must do more than complain about criminal coddling&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CAdams_must_do_more_than_complain_about_criminal_coddling%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Adams must do more than complain about criminal coddling&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--columnist inline-module--author\">\n<div class=\"inline-module--author__img\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"76\" height=\"69\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/bob-mcmanus.png?w=76&amp;h=69&amp;crop=1\" class=\"attachment-nyp_columnist size-nyp_columnist\" alt=\"Bob McManus\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/bob-mcmanus.png 76w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/08\/bob-mcmanus.png?w=38 38w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 76px) 100vw, 76px\"\/>       <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Another day, another dreary tale of near catastrophe on the streets of New York City.<\/p>\n<p>Police Officer Dennis Vargas was recovering Wednesday from a line-of-duty gunshot wound suffered in the early-morning hours during a Bronx shoot-out.<\/p>\n<p>Not so fortunate was 25-year-old Rameek Smith, fatally wounded after opening fire on officers who were attempting to arrest him. Police said one of his bullets struck Vargas, who is expected to recover.<\/p>\n<p>It wasn\u2019t long before Mayor Eric Adams \u2014 freshly returned from A-list <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social<\/a>izing in Los Angeles \u2014 weighed in. He correctly noted that Smith, who had a lengthy criminal record, was on the street because of Albany\u2019s permissive <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roach to violent crime.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe number of shootings we respond to every night is despicable,\u201d declared Hizzoner \u2014 never at a loss for combative rhetoric when the occasion calls for it.<\/p>\n<p>Which might not be every night \u2014 but close enough. And hot-weather bloodletting is fast approaching.<\/p>\n<p>Yet Adams has been mayor for four-plus months; while it\u2019s too soon to expect a turnaround, there\u2019s not a lot of evidence that his promised crime crackdown has advanced beyond the combative-rhetoric stage.<\/p>\n<p>Talk is necessary, sure, but it\u2019s also cheap. Results, always elusive, require discipline, determination and the focused application of pile-driver political force \u2014 and if any of those elements are present in the Adams administration, they are well-hidden.<\/p>\n<p>Which has consequences.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"639\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/Screen-Shot-2022-05-11-at-12.42.43-PM.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"NYPD Officer Dennis Vargas leaves the hospital after being wounded in a shootout with suspect Rameek Smith, in the Bronx, early Wednesday, May 11, 2022.\" class=\"wp-image-22234448\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/Screen-Shot-2022-05-11-at-12.42.43-PM.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/Screen-Shot-2022-05-11-at-12.42.43-PM.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/Screen-Shot-2022-05-11-at-12.42.43-PM.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/Screen-Shot-2022-05-11-at-12.42.43-PM.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>NYPD Officer Dennis Vargas leaves the hospital after being wounded in a shootout with suspect Rameek Smith, in the Bronx, early Wednesday, May 11, 2022.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">PBA<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Rameek Smith had been convicted of robbery in 2016; he was sentenced to five years\u2019 probation. In 2020, he was arrested on gun-possession charges in a Coney Island subway station.<\/p>\n<p>This alone should have been enough to put Smith behind bars for probation violation \u2014 but it gets worse. After pleading guilty to the Coney Island gun charges last year, he remained free pending sentencing \u2014 which was repeatedly delayed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHere\u2019s the problem,\u201d Adams said early Wednesday. \u201cThe arrest was March 2020, and for 20 months after the arrest he remained on the streets.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/rameek-smith-3.jpg?w=593\" alt=\"Rameek Smith mugshot.\" class=\"wp-image-22234475\" width=\"269\" height=\"463\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/rameek-smith-3.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=536 538w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/rameek-smith-3.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=402 403w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/rameek-smith-3.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=269 269w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/rameek-smith-3.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=134 134w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/rameek-smith-3.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 269px) 100vw, 269px\"\/><figcaption>Rameek Smith, a 25-year-old repeat offender, died after opening fire on NYPD officers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Then came the fatal shoot-out. While nobody wants anybody dead, it could just as easily have been Rameek Smith recovering from a non-life-threatening gunshot wound Wednesday morning \u2014 and New York City preparing another inspector\u2019s funeral for a murdered officer.<\/p>\n<p>Which, for those who may have forgotten, would have been the third this year. And which would have been accompanied by more combative mayoral rhetoric.<\/p>\n<p>Which would have changed nothing.<\/p>\n<p>Such was made clear this week by The Post\u2019s Nolan Hicks and Bernadette Hogan, who laid out in depressing detail this administration\u2019s inability to define \u2014 let alone to defend \u2014 the city\u2019s interests in Albany.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s not much of importance to Gotham that New York\u2019s capital city doesn\u2019t have outsized influence over. Penal-law reform, school governance, subsidized housing, tax structure \u2014 even the authority to maintain traffic-control cameras \u2014 are all decided in Albany.<\/p>\n<p>And, as Hicks and Hogan recount, all are twisting in the wind right now for lack of mayoral attention.<\/p>\n<p>Certainly the three-year-old criminal-justice \u201creforms\u201d imposed by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Legislature are hitting New York City particularly hard.<\/p>\n<p>Yet there is no indication that Albany crime coddlers have any interest in public safety. Just as there is no evidence that Cuomo\u2019s hand-picked successor, Gov. Kathy Hochul, has the good sense or courage to insist on reforming the \u201creforms.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/051122GhostGunPC10wf.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Mayor Eric Adams, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell and police officials discussing the rising threat posed by ghost guns and the easy access to criminals have to them.\" class=\"wp-image-22234529\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/051122GhostGunPC10wf.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/051122GhostGunPC10wf.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/051122GhostGunPC10wf.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/051122GhostGunPC10wf.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Adams has repeatedly called for amendments to the 2019 bail reform law.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">William Farrington<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>So what\u2019s a mayor to do?<\/p>\n<p>Something other than complain, one would hope. But so far that\u2019s pretty much all Adams has been doing.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, talk matters \u2014 especially if it is properly focused and names the right names. Adams needs to call out Hochul for her refusal to engage; he needs to note the blood on the hands of Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, too.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond that, as Hicks and Hogan reported, the mayor needs to assemble an effective Albany lobbying effort aimed at promoting the city\u2019s interests <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a>ly \u2014 and on winning criminal-justice change in particular.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/IMG_1399.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Police stand guard in a subway.\" class=\"wp-image-22234586\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/IMG_1399.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/IMG_1399.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/IMG_1399.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/IMG_1399.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Post reporters note that Adams needs to assemble an effective Albany lobbying effort aimed at promoting the city\u2019s interests, particularly about rising crime.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Peter Gerber<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Mayors and governors are always on the outs because their political and policy interests so rarely coincide. But Adams seems to be surrendering the field without a fight; this is hard to understand.<\/p>\n<p>More is at stake than penal-law reform, for sure. But there\u2019s nothing more important than safe streets \u2014 and if Adams concedes that point up front, not much else is going to matter.<\/p>\n<p><em>Email: bob@bobmcmanus.nyc<\/em>\n                        <\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/05\/11\/adams-must-do-more-than-complain-about-criminal-coddling\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Adams must do more than complain about criminal coddling&#8221; Another day, another dreary tale of near catastrophe on the streets of New York City. Police Officer Dennis Vargas was recovering Wednesday from a line-of-duty gunshot wound suffered in the early-morning hours during a Bronx shoot-out. Not so fortunate was 25-year-old Rameek Smith, fatally wounded after&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":445725,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/newspress-collage-22233087-1652311213455.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&1652296893&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[129004,71964,4998,66147,98806,73779,70639],"class_list":["post-445724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-5-11-22","tag-bail","tag-crime","tag-eric-adams","tag-kathy-hochul","tag-legislature","tag-police-shootings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=445724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/445725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=445724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=445724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=445724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}