Top executives at the Bank of America in New York City are quietly advising their associates and staffers to “dress down” to avoid becoming a target in the increasingly violent city. They told staffers that dressing up, or wearing anything with the BofA logo on it, could attract attention to them by criminals seeking easy prey.
In just the past 28 days, felony assaults, according to the NYPD, have jumped by 15 percent when compared to a year ago. It’s not being helped by the fact that with daylight savings time ending last month, more employees are returning home in the dark. Most of the lower-rank employees enter the city in the morning through Penn Station or Port Authority and then walk to work on or near Times Square. At night they return home the same way — in the dark.
New York City is one of the most violent cities in the country. According to Neighborhood Scout, the violent crime rate in the Big Apple is 5.3 per 1,000 residents, with the odds of being a victim one chance in 188. And it’s been run by Democrats for years. The current mayor, Bill DeBlasio, is a self-avowed Marxist and his replacement, mayor-elect Eric Adams, is also a Democrat.
In fact, according to a study completed last year by Neighborhood Scout, 18 of the 20 highest-crime cities in the country are run by Democrats. Two have mayors that ran in nonpartisan races. The highest-crime city in the country is Detroit, followed by Memphis, Birmingham, Baltimore, Flint, St. Louis, Danville (Illinois), Saginaw, Wilmington (Delaware), Camden (New Jersey), Pine Bluff (Arkansas), Kansas City, San Bernardino, Alexandria (Louisiana), Little Rock, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Stockton (California), Monroe (Louisiana), and Chester (Pennsylvania).
New York City, Chicago, and Seattle run close behind, according to Neighborhood Scout. And these three are run by Democrats.
This is no coincidence or statistical anomaly. Democrats traditionally take a dim view of law enforcement, have pushed to defund their police departments, and have installed radical DAs favoring no-cash bail thus allowing thugs to return to the streets after being arrested.
The obvious solution is to replacing these irresponsible officials. In the meantime, another solution is working its way through the court system in New York: New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.
The Supreme Court is hearing the appeal that challenges New York’s “may issue” law that has virtually disarmed every citizen. At issue is the question of “whether [New York] State’s denial of petitioners’ applications for concealed-carry licenses for self-defense violated the Second Amendment.”
If the high court agrees, then New York, and citizens in other high-crime cities and states, will have a chance to defend themselves against being mugged (or worse) on their way home from work. Jacob Hornberger, founder and president of the Future of Freedom Foundation (FFF), has described the potential disaster for a young woman returning home from work, defenseless:
Let’s assume that a woman goes into the New York City subway system late at night. No one else is around. She’s 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs about 120 pounds. She encounters a guy who is 6 foot 2 inches tall and weighs 190 pounds. The guy grabs her and attempts to rape her.
What is that woman supposed to do? Fight back? That’s a joke. Unless she is a black belt in karate, she will have no chance of resisting that man’s assault.
However, let’s suppose she has a Glock 9mm pistol in her purse, which she quickly pulls out when the man grabs her. Now things have suddenly become equalized. It doesn’t matter how small she is or how large he is. A bullet fired into his abdomen is going to stop him from raping her.
It wouldn’t likely come to that. Wrote Hornberger:
In the absence of New York City’s gun-control law, there would be a certain percentage of people carrying concealed weapons. Murderers and rapists would not know which people are carrying and which ones are not. Therefore, the fact that some people will be carrying would serve as a deterrent to [all] would-be murderers and rapists.
A favorable ruling from the Supreme Court would reverse the situation extant in New York City and other high-crime, anti-gun cities. As Hornberger explained:
[New York State’s] gun-control law actually makes the situation more dangerous for peaceful and law-abiding people. That’s because the law converts the entire city into a gun-free zone. Rapists and murderers love gun-free zones because they can act with the reasonable assurance that their victims lack the means to fight back.
Citizens living in the most violent cities in the country are suffering the consequences of Democrat decisions and policies. A favorable ruling in Bruen would give the average citizen in those cities an even chance against the mounting wave of violence inundating them as a result of those policies.
