NYC Shootings This Year Have Already Surpassed All Shootings in 2019 After $1B Moved from NYPD

Conservatives have long criticized Chicago for its sky-high crime, but the crime in New York City is growing at an exponential rate.

The sad news is that under Mayor Rudy Guiliani, the crime in New York came way down.

In fact, they were at historic lows.

But under Democratic leadership, violent crime in New York is climbing at record pace.

The New York Post reports:

There have been more shootings so far this year in New York City than in all of 2019.

A 24-year-old man who walked bleeding into Lincoln Hospital in The Bronx on Saturday night has pushed the city’s total number of shootings this year to 777 — topping the 776 recorded in all of last year, NYPD data compiled by The Post reveals.

And it’s only the first days of August, with five more months before the year is over.

“It only gets worse from here,” warned Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

“As the shootings continue, so will retaliation. It’s a vicious cycle that the NYPD worked hard to mitigate, but that they are no longer able and in some cases willing to do.”

The year’s plague of gunplay has touched every borough, killing or injuring 942 victims and cutting down not just hardened gang members but innocent children.

In a separate article, the New York Post reports that crime in the city is up 176 PERCENT compared to last year:

New York City tallied 47 shootings last week — a 176 percent spike compared to the 17 the city saw during the same period last year, police sources said Monday.

Fourteen murders are included in that figure, according to the sources. Last year, there were only five murders citywide during that time.

On Sunday alone, there were 15 shooting incidents across the city with 18 victims, compared to only two with two victims on the same day last year, police said. Seven murders were reported.

The fatal victims include a 16-year-old boy who was shot in the head at a basketball court in George Walker Jr. Park in Cypress Hills around 6:40 p.m.

An 18-year-old man who was also shot in the head during the same incident is listed in critical condition at Kings County Hospital Center, and another victim, 17, who was struck in the leg, was taken to Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center in stable condition.

Police sources say the suspect opened fire through the sunroof while driving by in a dark-colored SUV. The motive for the attack was not immediately known.

And about 20 minutes later in Flatbush, a 32-year-old man was shot and killed around 7 p.m. outside of an apartment building on East 16th Street, between Cortelyou and Dorchester roads, police said.

The gunplay continued around 11:30 p.m. when a 29-year-old man was shot in the foot after a dispute on Fulton Street near Jerome Street in Cypress Hills and taken to Brookdale with non-life-threatening injuries.

The male suspect took off after the incident, cops said.

On Saturday, the city saw six shooting incidents with six victims, compared to two incidents with four victims that day last year.

Eight shooting incidents with 10 victims occurred on Friday, compared to last year’s figure of five with five victims.

The violence continued into early Monday with five shootings over a three-hour period.

This is not because of the pandemic.

In New York City, people are staying inside and social distancing because of the novel coronavirus.

This crime spree is due to the city's lack of leadership and failed response to the radical demands of the far left, including those in the BLM movement.

It's no secret that radical members of BLM are calling to defund the police.

In some rare instances, they are even calling for the total abolition of police departments.

The New York City leadership has appeared to cave to the radical mob, shifting $1 billion in funds AWAY from the police department:

According to USA Today:

As calls to defund the police grow louder around the country, New York City officials agreed on a budget that shifts roughly $1 billion from the police department, but advocates and lawmakers say the change doesn't go far enough.

The city council said in a statement Tuesday that the city's 2021 budget, totaling more than $88 billion, "reduces police spending and shrinks NYPD's footprint." The cuts came as the city is grappling with losing $9 billion in revenue amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The budget cuts nearly $484 million from the NYPD's annual $6 billion budget and shifts funding to other agencies as well as youth and social services programming.

The changes will cancel a nearly 1,200-person police recruiting class set for next month (though another class in October is scheduled to go forward), curtail overtime spending and shift school safety, crossing guards and homeless outreach away from the NYPD.

“That work is not over, and while we have made progress, we are also vowing to keep fighting for fundamental changes to how we approach safety in schools, mental health and homelessness," said council Speaker Corey Johnson. "Over the coming weeks, the council will be working on hearings and legislation to make sure that these changes are real."

A statement from Mayor Bill de Blasio's office said $430 million will be reinvested from the NYPD's expense budget into youth and social services programming.

"This budget prioritizes our communities most in need while keeping New Yorkers safe," de Blasio said. "As we emerge from the epicenter of COVID-19, it's now more important than ever to create a fairer city for all."

The budget changes come as hundreds of protesters who have camped in front of City Hall for more than a week demanded that the police department be defunded. Organizers have called the movement “Occupy City Hall," a reference to the 2011 Occupy Wall Street movement that took place just a few blocks away.

Many people, including the New York Civil Liberties Union, have criticized the proposed budget. Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said in a statement that he plans to use his authority to prevent the budget from being executed, calling for a full NYPD hiring freeze and a commitment to transitioning from the current model for school safety.

“In a moment when New Yorkers, with the entire nation, are demanding a reimagining of public safety, a reckoning with systemic injustices and inequities, the city falls far short with a budget that misses the moment of need," he said in a statement.

A representative for de Blasio told multiple media outlets that Williams can't stall the budget. U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., echoed the criticism Tuesday, saying the cuts don't go far enough.

“Defunding police means defunding police," the congresswoman said in a statement. "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."

It has never been more clear that actions have consequences.

This November, the country as a whole could face the same fate as NYC.

There has never been a clearer choice.

Joe Biden is a puppet of the radical left, which wants to defund police departments across the nation.

President Trump, on the other hand, wants to DEFEND the police, not defund the police!

VOTE! The choice is yours.