Three cheers for Mayor Eric Adams for standing up for what’s right.
After Tuesday night’s hideous shootings, which killed three and injured at least 13, Adams demanded accountability from the protesting class.
“Where are all those who stated ‘black lives matter’?” he asked, noting that the victims in these tragic crimes were black. “We can’t be hypocrites.”
Major crimes are up 37% year on year in the city. So far this year, we’ve seen an average rate of nearly four shooting victims a day. And the victims of city crime are predominantly black: In 2020, black New Yorkers, just 24% of the overall population, were 65% of murder victims — a disparity that repeats year after year.
Skyrocketing crime here, driven by Albany’s insane criminal-justice “reforms,” is a crisis for black New Yorkers.
Activists and protesters turned out in force for months after the murder of George Floyd. Where’s their outrage today? Their demands for justice? The silence is deafening.
On education, the mayor is showing similar courage. On the way out the door, his predecessor put in motion the end of New York City’s Gifted and Talented programs. But Adams and Chancellor David Banks instead just announced their expansion citywide.
The aim, says Adams, is to give “every child, in every zip code, a fair chance and making sure no child is left behind.”
Excellent. Bill de Blasio’s absurd justification for killing G&T was the low numbers of black and Hispanic students in the programs. But the right answer to that was always to expand access — not take it away from everyone. With more seats, and rules where every school’s top kids will be invited to apply for 3rd grade, Adams and Banks are doing just that.
But are the equity-lovers among New York officials cheering him on? Of course not. Comptroller Brad Lander repeated the tired argument that entry requirements for G&T programs “lead to racial segregation.” (Funny: Such worries didn’t stop him from sending his own kid to a public high school with a rigorous academic screening process.)
Fighting crime and improving access to high-quality schools will help the vulnerable in New York. The progressive agenda — freeing even dangerous offenders and shutting down educational opportunity — harms them.
The mayor gets this; too many other Democrats don’t. Bravo to Adams for bucking the activists and fighting the good fight.