Public safety and faith took center stage Tuesday in the New York City mayor’s race.
With the Park Avenue shooting still fresh on the minds of many, the issue of public safety is continuing to dominate on the campaign trail, and the candidates addressed the topic at various events.
Mayor Adams slams Cuomo’s “make-believe” NYPD plan
Mayor Eric Adams attended National Night Out safety events at police precincts in all five boroughs and Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani made a stop at an event with New York Attorney General Letitia James at a Park Slope police precinct.
Adams was questioned about former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s new public safety plan that calls for hiring more NYPD officers and raising starting salaries by $15,000.
“Already did it,” Adams said, when asked about a pay raise. “[Cuomo] will say anything to get elected. I gave a pay raise already. I’m not concerned with his make-believe plan.”
Republican Curtis Sliwa met with former Assemblyman Dov Hikind to talk about drumming up support in the Jewish community and also Cuomo’s police plan to hire 5,000 more officers. Sliwa said he also thinks the city needs more officers, but he dismissed the former governor’s proposal.
“But remember, in the summer of 2020, it was the same governor who said, unless police departments reform from Buffalo to Brooklyn, I am going to defund those police departments,” Sliwa said.
Cuomo continued to talk up his plan, which would also beef up the Strategic Response Group, the unit that responded to the Park Avenue shooting.
“I’ve called for increasing the starting salary. Starting salary is about $60,000. It would do a retention bonus by the end of the first year, an additional $15,000, because literally our salaries are not competitive,” Cuomo said.
Some faith leaders want Adams to stay in office for years
Dozens of faith leaders gathered on the steps of City Hall to call for the mayor to be given not one but possibly two more terms.
“You gave another man three terms. Let’s not forget that,” one person said, referring to the four mayors who have served three consecutive four-year terms, including, most recently, Mike Bloomberg.
Adams did his best to impress.
“This city is a better place because of this administration and what we accomplished,” he said.
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