NYC's Bill for Migrant Compassion Due, City Services Slashed
When the rubber meets road (narrowed by bike lanes)
Mayor Eric Adams announced on Thursday major cuts to the New York City budget as a direct result of the migrant crisis. The proposal would:
Slash the number of NYPD officers below 30,000, a figure not seen since the 1980s and 90s
Slash $1 billion from the Department of Education over the next two years
Close public libraries on Sundays
Diminish summer school and universal Pre-K programs
Postpone a planned composting initiative in the Bronx and Staten Island
Thus far, the city has processed about 139,500 migrants since Spring 2022, with 65,000 still in the city’s care.
Adams said that the the cost of the crisis would amount to nearly $11 billion over the next two years. Next year’s budget, he said, already had a $7 billion gap to close and warned that more cuts are on the way without federal assistance.
The usual cast of progressive characters decried the cuts and the mayor’s handling of the situation.
And yet, responsibility for the migrant crisis is squarely in progressives’ hands. They just want others to clean up their mess for them, to print whatever funds are needed to fuel pipe dreams, and sacrifice New Yorkers’ well-being to subsidize migrants.
The migrant crisis is actually less about migrants and more about progressive-issued checks bouncing, while the rest of us are left to pay the balance out of pocket. It’s easy to budget for utopia when you’re not the one paying for it.
It would be one thing if their promises panned out and they were expensive. But the migrant crisis has been a disaster for local New Yorkers, with losses both financially and in public safety. The gutting of the NYPD budget has increased dangerousness and wastes police resources with our catch-and-release style of criminal justice. Basic city infrastructure and transit is crumbling yet more taxes and fare increases never seem to improve the system.
So the progressives’ claim to fame is that they architect grand visions that sound great, but ultimately backfire. Oh, and they cost an arm and a leg too. And, by the way, your arm and leg, not ours.
It’s funny because New Yorkers pride themselves on street smarts. We avoid hustles and scams, while tourists and transplants eat them up like suckers. But by this point, I’d much rather be a Times Square starry-eyed Midwesterner paying $30 for a photo with a chain-smoking Elmo, than a New Yorker subsidizing the scammers in City Hall, our DA offices, courtrooms, and City Council.
Gov. Kathy Hochul signs ‘Clean Slate Act,’ sealing criminal records for employment, housing applications (NY Post)
Some convicted criminals in New York will now have their records sealed when applying for jobs and filling out housing applications, after Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the controversial new “Clean Slate Act” in a ceremony Thursday.
[…]
The legislation seals eligible misdemeanor records after three years and certain felony records after eight years after their sentence is complete as long as the offender doesn’t commit another crime during that time.
Charges eligible to be sealed include misdemeanors such as disorderly conduct, larceny and vandalism as well as non-violent felonies like money laundering, insurance fraud and compelling prostitution.
Crimes designated as class A felonies like murder, predatory sexual assault, terrorism, arson and kidnapping would not be eligible to be sealed. That excludes class A felonies for drug possession.
Progressive: “Should criminals be able to work after they complete their sentence?”
Normal Person: “Yes, that will likely help prevent them from committing more crime.”
Progressive: “Oh, so let’s seal their records so employers or landlords can’t tell they’re criminals. Got it. Thanks for agreeing.”
Normal Person: “That’s… not what I said.”
That’s the boilerplate tactic progressives love to employ to achieve their ridiculous ambitions. They know you wouldn’t agree to their desired policy to begin with. They have to trap you with a false premise of compassion, then they present their radical solution as the only solution. Stop falling for it.
Pro-Palestinian org posts—then deletes—maps showing New York City targets for 'Intifada' direct action (Post Millennial)
A pro-[Palestinian] organization posted a map of multiple locations in New York City, claiming they are associated with the "genocide" in Gaza.
Among the locations listed were Fox News, NBC, the New York Post, The New York Times, the Defense Logistics Agency, Meta, as well as Jewish institutions.
The now-deleted map was posted by the radical group Within Our Lifetime, which featured the headline "From Palestine to NYC. Globalize the Intifada."
I don’t take sides in the conflict, on account of it being a centuries-old, id-driven blood feud. Both sides have their nutcases, and Americans should be pro-America. That said, the potential for terrorism, and political conflict of any kind, is escalating in New York City. The language of “zone of direct actions” and “zone of operations” next to maps with numbered targets implies a militaristic frame of mind that should raise red flags for every New Yorker, no matter who or what you support.
NY State ammo background checks frustrating to buyers and sellers (WETM/My Twin Tiers)
Background checks for ammunition in New York state began September 13.
Gun owners and sellers say it’s causing a lot of frustration. They say it can delay or stop a usually routine process. Sellers say many buyers are now going across the border into Pennsylvania to buy their ammo.
The law requires people buying ammo to undergo a state mandated background check and pay a fee of $2.50. This in addition to the nine dollars buyers will spend on a gun background check. Governor Hochul and supporters of the law believe it will reduce gun violence and save lives, while those who oppose it believe the law will only hurt law abiding gun owners, not criminals.
What’s the point of background checks for ammunition when there’s already background checks for the firearms they will be used in? There is no point. Any law affecting firearms that come down from politicized, gun-grabbing Albany and Hochul is designed with only one thing in mind: restricting the 2nd Amendment for everyday citizens, while they empower criminals every chance they get. Here’s to hoping the lawfare post-Bruen unfolds in a way that slaps down NY’s gun grabbers for good.
Spotted in the Wild:
I can’t remember where I saw this comment, but I laughed:
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