Crime takes centerstage in NYC mayor's race after Brooklyn mass shooting
The New York City mayor's race honed in on fighting crime and prostitution Monday after the weekend's deadly mass shooting in Brooklyn took quality of life issues front and center.
The candidates' accusations against each other were flying.
Sliwa says NYPD commissioner is wrong
Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee challenging Mayor Eric Adams, insisted he is the best candidate to restore law an order after the fatal shooting at Taste of the City Lounge in Crown Heights.
The Guardian Angels founder sarcastically questioned Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch's insistence that the gunfight was "an anomaly," while campaigning at the 23rd Street subway station.
"Nineteen shootings, three dead, five slashings, five stabbings, inordinate number of crimes of late in the subway directed at women. And that's an anomaly? Jessica Tisch, you need to come into the subways and streets. You need to know what's going on in your city. It's not an anomaly," Sliwa said.
Tisch made the statement saying gun violence is down this year citywide at a news conference hours after the Brooklyn shooting.
"We have the lowest number of shooting incidents and shooting victims seven months into the year that we've seen on record in the city of New York. Something like this is, thank God, an anomaly and it's a terrible thing that happened this morning. But we're going to investigate and get to the bottom of what went down," Tisch said.
Meanwhile, Adams and the NYPD commissioner were on Staten Island to expand their quality of life crackdown to the borough. Despite the lounge shooting, and July's mass shooting at a Midtown office building, the mayor insisted reelecting him is in the best interest of public safety.
"A record-breaking decline in violence, just as July saw the lowest number of shooting incidents and shooting victims in recorded history. And the first seven months of 2025 also marked the fewest shooting incidents," Adams said.
Cuomo calls Mamdani "de Blasio 2.0"
Independent candidate Andrew Cuomo went to Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights, Queens, to talk with business owners about problems with prostitution.
Cuomo slammed Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, for supporting legislation to decriminalize prostitution and likened the Queens assemblyman to former Mayor Bill de Blasio.
"Mr. Mamdani said de Blasio was his favorite mayor. And if you listen to him and you look at his policies, he's going to be de Blasio 2.0. And I believe that's the last thing this city needs," the former governor said.
Mamdani's team punched back, with a campaign spokesperson issuing the statement, "The idea that Andrew Cuomo cares about women's safety is laughable. Andrew Cuomo's so-called 'vision' for New York City is the same failed leadership we've suffered under Eric Adams - one that cut millions in funding from sex trafficking survivors."
