I really don’t know who the hell is running for mayor of New York City this year. With COVID dying out, states reopening, and Joe Biden getting an Ike Turner-like beating by Vladimir Putin, plus the trash economy and rising inflation—it’s easy to forget that there’s a mayoral race this year. Communist Bill de Blasio is leaving. He’s blessedly term-limited, so he can leave the city in a Cuba-like state. Another term and the Big Apple would have been in full-blown Venezuela mode.
The Wall Street Journal editorial board had a lengthy op-ed about the state of the race and the city. It’s not good. It’s something out of Escape from New York, except there’s no Snake Plissken tasked with leading us out of this mess. The publication scorches de Blasio’s record as a man who will leave a city utterly destroyed and reverting to the wild west days of the 1970s and 1980s. They also note that candidates seeing a surge in polling is due to their increased focus on crime and public safety. This is where the paper says there’s glimmers of hope, but also noted the Mayor Bill’s clone that we should hope loses at all costs (via WSJ):
The city boomed, but voters forgot the bad old days, and the combination of public unions and the gentry left took charge of the political debate. Some progressives now want to disavow Mr. de Blasio, who has become a clownish figure and is deeply unpopular, but he has implemented their agenda.
Regulations have crushed small businesses. Bias against charter schools and substituting race for merit in admissions have reversed educational gains. A court ordered the city’s public housing authority put under control of a federal monitor. Wage and pension payoffs for public unions have left the city facing a fiscal crisis despite huge Covid cash infusions from Congress.
Above all, crime and disorder have returned amid progressive assaults on police and the anti-crime strategies that worked. Bail reform let repeat offenders free. The mentally ill homeless attack subway riders and pedestrians. The mayor had his police chief disband the anti-crime unit that searched for illegal guns, and shootings have soared.
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The most promising news is that even Democrats are again talking about reducing crime, not merely bashing police. The debate has been led by Andrew Yang, the businessman who ran for President in 2020, and Eric Adams, a former police captain who is now Brooklyn borough president. Mr. Adams would restore the anti-crime unit, and Mr. Yang would deploy 250 cops full-time to patrol the subways.
Mr. Adams leads in the polls, having overtaken Mr. Yang, and his focus on public safety is clearly the reason. Mr. Yang and others attack him regularly for saying he carries a gun as he is allowed to do as a former cop. But he’s stood up to the attacks, which bodes well if he wins.
We wish Mr. Adams were more forthright in his support for charter schools, but he may be persuadable on lifting the cap on the number of schools and he hasn’t been endorsed by the teachers union. He also talks about easing regulation for business to help revive the economy after the pandemic.
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The closest to a de Blasio clone is Maya Wiley, a hard-left legal activist, who wants to cut the police force and thinks it’s blaming the homeless to want to take them off the street or subway platforms. She lives in a ritzy corner of Brooklyn protected by private security, as Mr. Adams likes to point out. The left has coalesced around her since she was endorsed by Queens Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She’s the candidate for continued decline.
The publication did note that Kathryn Garcia, the city’s head of sanitation, is the favorite for the “liberal intelligentsia.” She is a supporter of charter schools, but her rise in the polls is something of an enigma. Being part of the de Blasio regime means she’s probably a ‘more of the same' type of candidate as well. Yet, everyone running also noted that they wanted to expand the city sanctuary status for illegal aliens, so I’m not so sure this is a hopeful picture, though the WSJ tries to find some kernel of positivity here. I think dark days are ahead for New York City—and Democrats to solely to blame.
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