Free Republic

... Gun violence exploded across the city after the NYPD disbanded its anti-crime unit of plainclothes cops on June 15, with three times as many shootings in the last two weeks of the month over the same period in 2019, police stats show. And the shocking rise in gunfire — to 116 incidents from 38 between June 15 and June 2, a 205 percent increase — meant scores more victims were hurt or killed by bullets this year over last year. Gunshot injuries skyrocketed to 157 from 47 in 2019, a 238 percent increase. With a total of 205 shootings...

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday the city is preparing for an in-person reopening of its schools in September, with all the precautions needed to keep the coronavirus at bay, though Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's office said the mayor does not have the power to make that decision. The head of the city teachers union also cast doubt that a return to in-person classes is a done deal. **SNIP** "You’re going to see constant use of face coverings. They'll be provided for free for anyone who needs them - kids, adults alike," de Blasio said. "Everyone will...

Manhattan apartment sales in the second quarter fell by 54%, the largest percentage decline in 30 years, according to a report from Miller Samuel and Douglas Elliman. The median sales price fell 18% to $1 million, which is the biggest decline in a decade. There were only 1,147 sales in the quarter — the lowest number on record, according to Compass. SNIP

It took several months for the first iteration of the Ferguson Effect to become obvious. Michael Brown was fatally shot by a Ferguson, Missouri, police officer in August 2014, triggering local riots and a national narrative about lethally racist police. Officers backed off proactive policing in minority neighborhoods, having been told that such discretionary enforcement was racially oppressive. By early 2015, the resulting spike in shootings and homicides had become patent and would lead to an additional 2,000 black homicide victims in 2015 and 2016, compared with 2014 numbers. Today’s violent-crime increase—call it Ferguson Effect 2.0 or the Minneapolis Effect—has...

WASHINGTON — White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany ripped AOC on Wednesday after the firebrand leftist congresswoman said a drastic $1 billion cut to the NYPD police budget was not enough — McEnany suggesting she wanted to get rid of cops altogether...

Police in Brooklyn are investigating four shootings that happened in just over 90 minutes in Flatbush and Crown Heights - and a total of six in all on Tuesday. The victims include an 11-year-old boy who was shot while playing outside of his home in Flatbush.And now officials are demanding something be done to put a stop to the violence. The 11-year-old boy was wounded in a drive-by shooting that happened just before 10 p.m. on East 29th Street in Flatbush. The boy was on a porch with others when witnesses heard three gunshots. And that is when they noticed the...

Gritty photos taken in New York during the 1970s have laid bare why it used to be dubbed 'Fear City', amid concern it is heading back to the dark days with crime and disorder on the rise even as $1billion is slashed from the NYPD. In the 1970s, the city faced $10 billion in debt, teetered on the knife's edge of bankruptcy, and then Mayor Abraham Beame was forced to cut the police, fire and sanitation departments. Every type of crime - robberies, assaults, murders, grand larcenies - was up. Nowhere was safe, including and especially the subways, every inch...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Tuesday the proposed $1.5 billion NYPD budget slash didn’t go far enough. “Defunding police means defunding police. It does not mean budget tricks or funny math. It does not mean moving school police officers from the NYPD budget to the Department of Education’s budget so the exact same police remain in schools,” the self-described Democratic Socialist said in a press release about the budget deal between the City Council and Mayor de Blasio. “It does not mean counting cuts in overtime as cuts, even as NYPD ignores every attempt by City Council to curb overtime spending...

A spike in gun violence has left over 100 people wounded or killed in dozens of shootings across New York City over the past nine days, police said Sunday. There have been 112 victims in 83 shootings over a nine-day period ending Saturday, according to police. Most of those shot were expected to survive, but at least six people have died in the past week and others suffered serious or critical injuries.

Eleven people were shot in less than 12 hours across New York City as of early Sunday morning, law-enforcement sources told The Post. The victims were wounded during eight shootings in Brooklyn, The Bronx, Queens and Manhattan between 5:30 p.m. Saturday and about 5 a.m. Sunday, sources said.

... The New York that survived 9/11 and bounced back stronger than ever is now being brought to its knees. The coronavirus, the economic shutdowns and the frequent street protests, mixed with pillaging and vandalism, are no ordinary hurdles, but they are surmountable — with courageous leadership. ... The problems are many, but the linchpin is Mayor Bill de Blasio, whose performance grows worse by the day. There is nothing endearing about his act, only a long list of examples of how little he cares. And how little he does. New York has had its share of corrupt and incompetent...

It’s like a nightmare chamber from a horror movie: dead vines coming in through the window of a derelict kitchen, holes in the front door — and floors and walls and ceilings — and the scariest bathtub this side of “Psycho.” And it can be your home sweet home for just $828,888! Welcome to 50-18 196th St., a four-bedroom property in affluent Fresh Meadows, Queens, which hit the market in March. Neighbors call the brick hovel an eyesore. . . . Records say that an entity titled DCG Realty LLC bought the home for $675,000 in 2005 from a man...

The NYPD precinct boss who retired in protest this week blasted politicians for wanting to “vilify” cops during a raucous final walk-out celebration at his Bronx stationhouse Friday. Deputy Inspector Richard Brea rode off in a restored classic police car at about 3 p.m. after the celebration outside the 46th Precinct, which featured an NYPD helicopter fly by and NYPD bagpipers. In a speech at the ceremony, Brea slammed politicians for not backing police officers amid nationwide protests against police brutality. “Their blood is in the concrete of every street corner, but these politicians don’t want to remember that. They...

A federal judge said New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General Letitia James, and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio "exceeded" their executive limits by limiting worship services and condoning mass protests as the state continues to reopen from coronavirus restrictions. U.S. District Judge Gary L. Sharpe issued a preliminary injunction Friday on behalf of two Catholic priests -- Steven Soos and Nicholas Stamos -- and a trio of Orthodox Jewish congregants -- Elchanan Perr, Daniel Schonborn, and Mayer Mayerfeld -- in Brooklyn, represented by the Thomas More Society.... De Blasio had "simultaneous pro-protest/anti-religious gathering messages" when he "actively...

Gun violence is up 358% in New York City since June 2019 as police are being stripped of resources in Democrat run cities nationwide. The New York Times reported Tuesday that “It has been nearly a quarter century since New York City experienced as much gun violence in the month of June as it has seen this year.” The report states that the city “logged 125 shootings in the first three weeks of the month, more than double the number recorded over the same period last year,” according to police data. Chief of Crime Control Strategies Michael LiPetri noted that...

Video has emerged showing a large group of people causing a late-night disturbance in Brooklyn by shooting dozens of fireworks into the sky, amid a citywide crackdown on the illegal explosives. Witness Christopher Maslanka was driving through Crown Heights on June 16 when a 'mob of 50 to 60 people' emerged and began setting fireworks alight in the middle of the road. Maslanka captured the incident on video which showed the crowd marching down the street while firing off multiple Roman candles into the air in an elaborate display lasting about two minutes long.

Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez easily beat her challenger in the New York primary Tuesday with more than 70 percent of the vote. Ocasio-Cortez, the 30-year-old progressive firebrand better known as AOC, ran far ahead of former CNBC television anchor Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, 53, in New York's 14th District. Caruso-Cabrera had campaigned as a more moderate replacement to the democratic socialist lawmaker.

Mayor de Blasio called parents who are thinking about removing their kids from troubled Department of Education-run schools “privileged” Tuesday — and said those of lesser means will “stand and fight” for the city’s future. The mayor’s comments come amid reports that a growing number of city parents who are worried about the effect of coronavirus restrictions on their kids’ education are considering leaving New York or defecting to charter or private schools.

Dozens of former prosecutors are questioning the government’s handling of a case against two lawyers hit with charges that could put them in prison for nearly 50 years for torching an empty New York City police vehicle last month.

This is the shocking moment a 66-year-old homeless man was attacked with a firework as he slept on a New York street. Video footage shows a man light up the explosive before hurling it in the direction of a blanket.