Especially in their once-world-class cities, New Yorkers are being crushed beneath a wave of depraved crime and violence. Fear of becoming a victim of random crime is the worst it’s been since the bad old days of the 1970s.
U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), the Republican candidate running for Governor in New York State, says that if he is elected, “We will waste no time starting immediately on Day ONE to restore NY to glory.”
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In a Sunday interview on Fox News with Maria Bartiromo, Zeldin asserted that “People want to save the state, they want to save New York City, and they’re tired of having to wake up every morning and read all the headlines of, of rising crime in their own neighborhood, places where they used to feel safe…”
When Bartiromo asked Zeldin what he would do in his first 100 days as governor, he replied, “I want to do everything I possibly can in the first 100 minutes. … As soon as I am sworn into office, I’m going to be declaring a crime emergency here in the state of New York.”
Zeldin enumerated his prescriptions for restoring law and order in the Empire State: “I’m going to suspend New York’s cashless bail laws and some other pro-criminal laws that have been passed, force the legislature to come to the table to negotiate an improvement, because we have to take back our streets.”
“We need law-abiding New Yorkers back in control of New York streets instead of criminals,” Zeldin accused, “and there are people who are in charge right now, from Kathy Hochul to these Democrats controlling the state legislature, who feel like they haven’t passed enough pro-criminal laws.”
Zeldin promised, “My first action, my first day that I’m in office, is telling the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg that he is being removed for his refusal to enforce the law.”
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“I would unapologetically back our men and women in law enforcement,” he continued. “They should have all the tools and resources they need to do their job safely and effectively.” Zeldin revealed that he was raised in law enforcement households, and his running mate, Lt. Gov. candidate Allison Esposito, just retired after 25 years on the job in the NYPD.
Zeldin knows whereof he speaks. Last summer, he was attacked onstage at a campaign appearance by a man who grabbed his arm and attempted to stab him. And just over a week ago, two teenagers were literally shot in front of Zeldin’s house, where his two teenage daughters were doing homework. The girls rushed upstairs, locked themselves in a bathroom, and called 911. Fox News reported:
A review of his home security footage showed one wounded victim “laying down underneath our porch,” another person shot “laying down under a bush in front of our porch just a couple of feet away” and a third person “moving all around the property up and down the porch a couple of times through the front yard” coming across all four cameras. Vehicles were seen passing by.
“And we don’t live in some huge house with, you know, this isn’t a gated community,” Zeldin said. “This was something that happened really just feet from where they were sitting.”
On Saturday, RealClearPolitics moved the New York governor’s race into the toss-up category. The latest Trafalgar poll shows Zeldin less than two points behind Democrat incumbent Kathy Hochul, at 42.6% to 44.5%. That’s within the margin of error. Not that long ago, New Yorkers were perfectly capable of electing Republicans to the governor’s seat. What a blessing it would be for the Empire State if its citizens could once again enjoy the safety and prosperity that follow from sane, sensical leadership.
Watch Zeldin’s appearance on Fox News:
In 23 days, we WILL win this race for Governor, because we HAVE to win.
Then, we will waste no time starting immediately on Day ONE to restore NY to glory.
This AM, I spoke about our race to dethrone @KathyHochul & Save Our State with @MariaBartiromo @SundayFutures @FoxNews. pic.twitter.com/NOLxuFXCk9
— Lee Zeldin (@leezeldin) October 16, 2022
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article contained an incorrect chart showing subway ridership dropping off sharply in the past few weeks. The chart has been removed.
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