De Blasio’s $1b of cuts to NYPD spark fears the city will return to crime-ridden days of 1980s 

New York City has so far lost $9 billion since the coronavirus pandemic began, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday, as he announced plans to cut the NYPD’s budget by $1 billion – despite a surge in shootings, murders and burglaries.

The Democratic mayor unveiled the plans to shrink the NYPD’s $6 billion budget during a press conference at City Hall on Monday afternoon.

Calling it the ‘toughest’ budget he’s been involved with during his time in office, de Blasio’s announcement comes amid nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd and demands from activists and City Council members to ‘defund’ police.

‘I am excited to say that we have a plan that can achieve real reform, that can achieve real redistribution, and at the same time ensure that we keep our city safe while we make sure that our officers are on patrol around where we need them around this city,’ the mayor told reporters.

‘We can do this, we can strike the balance, we can keep this city safe,’ he later told reporters.

However not all share the mayor’s optimism, with business owners and other city officials voicing concerns that defunding the NYPD could set the Big Apple’s crime control efforts back more than 30 years – taking the city back to its infamous crime-ridden days of the 1980s.

The Democratic mayor unveiled the plans to shrink the NYPD’s $6 billion budget during a press conference at City Hall on Monday afternoon

Calling the impending budget the ‘toughest’ he’s had to draw up during his time in office, de Blasio’s announcement comes amid nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd and demands from activists and City Council members to ‘defund’ police

Calling the impending budget the ‘toughest’ he’s had to draw up during his time in office, de Blasio’s announcement comes amid nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd and demands from activists and City Council members to ‘defund’ police

However not all share the mayor’s optimism, with business owners and other city officials voicing concerns that defunding the NYPD could set the Big Apple’s crime control efforts back more than 30 years - taking the city back to its infamous crime-ridden days of the 1980s (pictured: a man is arrested on 42nd Street in New York, 1980)

However not all share the mayor’s optimism, with business owners and other city officials voicing concerns that defunding the NYPD could set the Big Apple’s crime control efforts back more than 30 years – taking the city back to its infamous crime-ridden days of the 1980s (pictured: a man is arrested on 42nd Street in New York, 1980)

De Blasio’s deal involves moving school safety agents – who are unarmed but wear police uniforms- into the Department of Education, canceling a July class of roughly 1,100 police recruits, and shifting certain homeless outreach operations away from police control.

On top of the $1 billion cut in operating expenses, there will be a more than $500 million cut to the NYPD’s capital budget, with the money instead used to build youth recreation centers and for public housing developments, de Blasio added.

‘We’re in a whole different situation in fact than New York City has ever faced in our history – a health care crisis, an economic crisis, a disparity crisis, a budget crisis all wrapped into one and on a massive, massive scale,’ he said. ‘We’ve gotta focus on those basics health, safety, food, shelter.’

At the same time, de Blasio said ‘we have an unprecedented opportunity to change some things.’

The city’s total budget is expected to be $87 billion, down from the mayor’s original proposal of $95.3 billion in January.

The mayor said that $9 billion in revenue ‘has evaporated’ in the past three months due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has caused tourism to stagnate and forced shops and restaurants to shutter their doors for weeks on end.

The economic crisis sparked in the pandemic’s wake has cost the city more than $7.4 billion in tax revenue alone.

When pressed, de Blasio said the cuts to the police department were partially caused by the city’s deficit, but added that the weeks of mass protests that followed the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis also pushed him to act.

‘The NYPD is being treated clearly in a specific manner,’ he said in response to questions.

De Blasio also voiced disappointment that the state Senate has so far refused to give the city permission to borrow up to $5 billion to help stem its economic bleed.

‘At some point, if Washington doesn’t act, if Albany doesn’t act, then we end up in a very tough situation,’ he said, adding that its clear ‘labor savings’ are going to be needed in the upcoming budget. 

‘This is not the 1970s. I have not gotten a coherent answer as to why it’s just not the right thing to do,’ de Blasio said of the borrowing plan. ‘Austerity is never the way to go.’ 

Pending a federal bailout or borrowing authority, de Blasio says the city will have to start laying off as many as 22,000 workers, beginning in October. 

The mayor indicated the city is not optimistic about receiving additional stimulus from the federal government before the end of July.

When pressed, de Blasio said the cuts to the police department were partially linked back to the city’s deficit, but added that the weeks of mass protests that followed the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis also pushed him to act

When pressed, de Blasio said the cuts to the police department were partially linked back to the city’s deficit, but added that the weeks of mass protests that followed the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis also pushed him to act

Violent crime - including shootings and murders - are on the rise in New York, with lower level crimes also going repeatedly unchecked (pictured: squatter Matthew Mishefski is removed from Washington Square Park fountain after weeks)

Violent crime – including shootings and murders – are on the rise in New York, with lower level crimes also going repeatedly unchecked (pictured: squatter Matthew Mishefski is removed from Washington Square Park fountain after weeks)

The plan to cut back on the NYPD’s budget comes as gun violence and other serious crimes, such as burglaries, have surged across the Big Apple. 

Last weekend alone, as many as eleven people were shot in a period of less than 12 hours across Saturday night and into Sunday morning, in Brooklyn, The Bronx, Queens and Manhattan. Murder is also up 25 percent in the city in comparison to this time last year.

Lower level crimes have also reportedly gone unchecked in recent weeks, with the police department still yet to address thousands of complaints about fireworks illegally being set off in the street, late at night, across all five of the city’s boroughs. 

The NYPD boasts the largest police force in the country with nearly 36,000 uniformed officers and 19,000 civilian members. While refusing the guarantee the NYPD’s headcount would remain the same following the cuts, de Blasio says negotiations remain ‘ongoing’.

Bruce Backman, a New York-based research consultant and member of the Re-Open New York coalition, told DailyMail.com the city is balancing on the precipice of disaster - leaving it just ‘two years away from becoming like Detroit’

Bruce Backman, a New York-based research consultant and member of the Re-Open New York coalition, told DailyMail.com the city is balancing on the precipice of disaster – leaving it just ‘two years away from becoming like Detroit’

Earlier this week, several officials warned that any drastic cuts to the NYPD would set the city back 30 years in its efforts to control crime, jeopardizing public safety in a negative impact that ‘would be felt in every neighborhood citywide,’ a law enforcement source told the Daily News.

‘A $1 billion cut to the NYPD’s operating budget would set the city back three decades and severely compromise the significant progress the NYPD has made in keeping crime at historic lows and New Yorkers safe.’

That view is one shared by Bruce Backman, a New York-based research consultant and member of the Re-Open New York coalition, who told DailyMail.com the city is balancing on the precipice of disaster – leaving it just ‘two years away from becoming like Detroit’.

‘The city of New York has never been worse than it has been in the last three months and it’s getting worse by the day,’ Backman said. ‘It’s not just coronavirus, its riots, looting, murders, fireworks and burglaries.’

Backman says such a time of unrest calls for more police funding, not less.

‘Once they know New York is on the run, this will incur more crime,’ Backman continued. ‘Go into any of the poorer neighborhoods of New York and ask those who live there if they want less law enforcement on the street.

‘I’m pretty sure the answer is not what the mayor thinks it is,’ he said. ‘This is not the time to decrease funding, this is bad public policy.’

Earlier this week, several officials warned that any drastic cuts to the NYPD would set the city back 30 years in its efforts to control crime, jeopardizing public safety in a negative impact that ‘would be felt in every neighborhood citywide,’ a law enforcement source said

Earlier this week, several officials warned that any drastic cuts to the NYPD would set the city back 30 years in its efforts to control crime, jeopardizing public safety in a negative impact that ‘would be felt in every neighborhood citywide,’ a law enforcement source said

Without a strong NYPD presence on the streets, Backman says that businesses in the city simply cannot prosper (pictured: Victoria Secret remains shuttered on New York's 34th Street on June 23)

Without a strong NYPD presence on the streets, Backman says that businesses in the city simply cannot prosper (pictured: Victoria Secret remains shuttered on New York’s 34th Street on June 23)

Backman also cited the inevitable impact a substantial rise in crime could have on businesses in the city.

Without a strong NYPD presence on the streets, Backman says that businesses in the city simply cannot prosper.

‘If people are too scared to leave their homes to shop, there will be an upswing in poverty and people – beginning with the richest – will simply leave the city in exodus,’ Backman said. ‘Real estate prices will go down, restaurants will close and businesses will languish.

‘New York is two years away from being like Detroit, which was also once home to all of the biggest companies and wealthiest people,’ he continued. ‘Taxes are too high and people will just have enough. I know many people are planning and leaving – many have already.

‘If all the “rich” people leave – who’s left to pay the bills,’ he asked. ‘We rely on their tax revenue. You can’t chase away the rich. This isn’t good for anyone, nobody wins here. Everybody loses. High income to low income and everyone in-between. It’s sad.’

Backman accused De Blasio of single-handedly ‘destroying’ New York City in light of Monday’s announcement.

‘It’s like watching someone you love becoming emaciated. The legacy of Bill de Blasio is going to be the man that destroyed New York City,’ Backman said.

Owner of American Home Hardware and More, Felix Atlasman, echoed Backman’s sentiments in an interview with DailyMail.com Monday.

‘If people are too scared to leave their homes to shop, there will be an upswing in poverty and people – beginning with the richest – will simply leave the city in exodus,’ Backman said. ‘‘Real estate prices will go down, restaurants will close and businesses will languish'

‘If people are too scared to leave their homes to shop, there will be an upswing in poverty and people – beginning with the richest – will simply leave the city in exodus,’ Backman said. ‘‘Real estate prices will go down, restaurants will close and businesses will languish’

Owner of American Home Hardware and More, Felix Atlasman, echoed Backman’s sentiments in an interview with DailyMail.com. Atlasman detailed how his neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen has been plagued by a dangerous crime spree in recent weeks. Amid suggestions New York City could be heading back to its crime ridden days of the 1980s, Atlasman insisted ‘we’re already back there'

Owner of American Home Hardware and More, Felix Atlasman, echoed Backman’s sentiments in an interview with DailyMail.com. Atlasman detailed how his neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen has been plagued by a dangerous crime spree in recent weeks. Amid suggestions New York City could be heading back to its crime ridden days of the 1980s, Atlasman insisted ‘we’re already back there’

Atlasman detailed how his neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen has been plagued by a dangerous crime spree in recent weeks. Amid suggestions New York City could be heading back to its crime ridden days of the 1980s, Atlasman insisted ‘we’re already back there’.

‘My best selling item used to be light bulbs, now it’s pepper spray,’ Atlasman, who opened the hardware store in 1955, told DailyMail.com.

‘When I call the police they arrive two hours later and then ask me which way [the shoplifter] went.’

Amid the purported rise in crime inside his store, Atlasman, whose business is deemed essential, has opted to no longer allow customers inside, instead keeping his shutters down and bringing customers what they need out to the sidewalk.

‘You have to fund not defund – we need more cops on the streets with what’s happening now,’ he said. ‘This is the most ridiculous thing you can do.’

Patrick Lynch, president of the Police Benevolent Association, agreed, accusing Mayor de Blasio and the City Council of ‘surrendering the city to lawlessness.’

‘Shootings more than doubled again last week. Even right now, the NYPD doesn’t have enough manpower to shift cops to one neighborhood without making another neighborhood less safe,’ Lynch said in an emailed statement to FOX Business. 

‘We will say it again: the Mayor and the City Council have surrendered the city to lawlessness. Things won’t improve until New Yorkers hold them responsible.’

In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Police Commissioner Dermot Shea acknowledged the need for belt-tightening — but he cautioned against cuts that might compromise public safety.

‘I think everyone has to cut. I think we’re going to be forced to do difficult things. We certainly get that,’ Shea said. ‘What concerns me is a moment in time and some rash judgments stepping in and taking the place of some well thought out conversations about how to cut smartly.’

Shea said he is open to giving up some of the ancillary functions the NYPD has taken on over the years, such as school safety and traffic enforcement, however he scoffed at proposals to reduce the headcount of uniformed officers and eliminate new recruiting classes at the police academy.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk