(The Center Square) — Republican nominee for New York City mayor Curtis Sliwa is accusing incumbent Mayor Eric Adams of turning over the city to “criminals and thugs” with plans to host a closed-door meeting with gang members.
Sliwa, a founder of the Guardian Angels, called Adams decision to hold talks at the mayor’s official residence with reputed gang leaders “spits in the face of every victim of gang-related violence” and accused the former NYPD captain of “throwing in the towel” on fighting the Big Apple’s crime problems.
“Adams has, in no uncertain terms, surrendered this city to criminals and thugs,” Sliwa said in a statement. “Instead of honoring the countless children who fought to escape the grip of gangs and build meaningful futures, he insults them by legitimizing gang rule at the official residence of the mayor. It is disgraceful.”
Last week, Adams announced the gang summit in response to a deadly Aug. 23 shootout between gang members at a basketball tournament. A 16-year-old and 17 year-old have been charged with attempted murder in connection with the shooting, the NYPD said. No date has been set for the meetings, according to Adams’s press office.
“We’re going to reach out to the notable gang members, the shooters, the trigger-pullers, and see if we can sit down around the table and talk about how we end this violence,” he said in remarks on Friday in response to a shooting. “We want to get them behind the scene and talk this violence to a conclusion. We can’t keep doing this.”
Crime has been a major issue in the NYC mayor’s race, even though it’s down over the previous election. The latest NYPD data shows shootings and murders are down nearly 20% citywide year to date, but shootings have surged 53% so far this year in the Bronx, one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods.
Over the weekend, several people were injured following a slate of shootings in the Bronx and other neighborhoods and violence tied to the West Indian Day parade and J’ouvert celebrations.
Much of the attention in the race has focused on criticism of the front-runner — Queens Assemblyman and Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani — over his previous calls to defund the NYPD, a movement he claims to no longer support. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat running as an independent, has also focused on reducing crime in the city.
Sliwa has touted his plans to improve public safety in New York by hiring at least 7,000 new NYPD officers, reviving the city’s gang violence task force and gang activity database and other policies he said are aimed at “prioritizing victims over perpetrators.”
“Real safety begins when leadership admits we have a crisis,” Sliwa said. “It does not come from throwing in the towel and letting criminals run Gracie Mansion and City Hall.”
