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Assaults increase in NYC
The tragic murder of EMS Lt. Alison Russo is just one of many stabbings in New York in recent weeks. Her death is putting a spotlight on how serious violence in the city isn't limited to shootings.
NEW YORK - The shocking crimes in New York City just don't seem to stop. A homeless man chased down and viciously beat a woman in a subway station in Queens. Another man fatally slashed a rider on a subway in Brooklyn. A man who is believed to be mentally ill stabbed to death FDNY EMS veteran Alison Russo-Elling on a street. And women dressed in green costumes launched a wild brawl on a Times Square subway train, robbing and beating two young women.
"All of these things exist in a toxic cocktail," said Ralph Cilento, an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a retired NYPD lieutenant.
Cilento said he believes years of failing to enforce quality-of-life crimes that started with Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration and the failure of the state Legislature to revise bail reform laws are the major reasons that crime is out of control in the city.
"I'm afraid now that it's gone so far that it's going to take us a decade to get out of this," Cilento said.
Detectives' Endowment Association President Paul DiGiacomo said Albany has "boxed in the mayor." Mayor Eric Adams' hands are tied by bail reform as well as some district attorneys failing to prosecute repeat offenders.
"Until that is done, the mayor cannot really bring crime down," DiGiacomo said.
Cilento added that criminals are opportunists.
"If there's an opportunity to commit a crime, they will," he said. "A large majority of criminals re-offend."