Lawlessness Due to Far Left Policies Coming from City Hall & Albany

Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, the Republican and Conservative Party candidate for Congress in the New York’s 11th District (Staten Island-Southwestern Brooklyn) held a Thursday morning news conference to condemn the recent attack on an 89 year-old Chinese woman who was slapped and lit on fire while walking on 16th Avenue and 77th Street in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. Assemblywoman Malliotakis called the incident, “a savage attack that chills you to the bone.” Joining Assemblywoman Malliotakis in front of the Homecrest-Bensonhurst Senior Citizen Center was a diverse crowd that included leaders of the local Asian Community.

The Homecrest-Bensonhurst Senior Center attracts mainly Chinese seniors from the area and its Board of Directors, along with members of the community, are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators of this heinous crime.

Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis said, “The attack that took place on a senior citizen walking on 16th Avenue at 7 pm on a warm July evening is shocking example of what our city has become. It was a savage attack that chills you to the bone when one considers what might have happened if the 89 year-old victim had not been so quick-thinking and spry enough to extinguish her burning shirt by rubbing her back against a nearby wall. Thankfully, she survived without serious injury and just celebrated her 90th birthday.

“I’m joined today by members of the local community, many of which are Chinese-Americans who are naturally outraged by the sky-rocketing crime in our city, in particularly the increase in attacks on Asian New Yorkers since the outbreak of COVID-19. And, we are standing in front of the Homecrest-Bensonhurst Senior Center which in normal times attracts Chinese seniors from the surrounding neighborhoods. Though the senior center remains closed due to COVID-19, we must make our streets safe, so when social distancing restrictions are relaxed, our seniors can walk the streets without fear.

“Make no mistake, the lawlessness we are seeing is due to the far-left policies and laws coming from City Hall and the New York State Legislature. It’s due to Mayor de Blasio, who first released thousands of criminals from Rikers Island before overseeing the defunding and degrading the NYPD.

“In the 62nd precinct, where this attack took place, there have been 40% more misdemeanor and felony assaults in the past month compared to the same period in 2019. Within the confines of the NYPD’s Brooklyn South Command, murder is up 58%, while robberies increased 25%, car thefts are up 113% and shootings have more than tripled in just the past month, compared to the same period in 2019.

“My record is clear; during my five terms in the Assembly I’ve always strongly supported law enforcement and fought hard against any attempts to weaken our laws or to release dangerous criminals onto our street.

“Sadly, Congressman Max Rose doesn’t feel that way; he supports the closing of Rikers Island, releasing inmates from federal prisons and he even took part in a march on Staten Island that called for the defunding of the NYPD. We’ve had enough of elected officials who seem intent on deconstructing our laws and then sit silently by as crime creeps higher and higher.

“Since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, harassment of Asian New Yorkers is way up. Of the 248 cases of COVID related harassment or discrimination reported to the NYC Human Rights Commission between February and mid-April, 105 or 42% were aimed at Asians. While we are unsure what the impetus was in this incident, the figures are staggering and show a troubling trend that has most likely increased.

“In Congress, I’ll fight for the federal law enforcement funding New York City needs and I’ll use the bully-pulpit of my office to speak-out against the lurch to lawlessness that we’ve all witnessed over the last 8 months.”

Anyone with information regarding the above incident should call NYPD Crime-Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.