New York is at a crossroads in business and population.

0:00 Speaker 1 With us today, is Congressman Peter King. It’s Sunday morning. So many things are happening in our city, a state in Washington. I’m losing track of or how many things are going on. Congressman King, I hope you have a big black cup of coffee with you this morning, and I have one, and trying to find out what the

0:22 heck is going on. Governor Murphy sued New York or not actually New York the Highway Authority on congestion pricing, and it’s just crazy. What’s going on? Where do you want to start?

0:41 Speaker 2 You’re right, Yeah, you’re right. I agree with you. Things are crazy. And you know, Sunday morning is usually a time where you can sit back and relax because there’s no real work that has to be done. But the problem these days, when you sit back and try to relax, then all of the craziness of the week comes crashing

0:56 into you. And you think, all of us going on, all covered up ahead, and all the chaos we seem to be going through, and one thing which we really have to address, I think, and you’ve been talking about this, God knows how long now is usual of crime in New York and crime itself is bad enough, but the

1:13 impact has of driving people out of New York, keeping businesses from moving into New York, preventing people from coming back to work in Manhattan or in Brooklyn A Queens for that matter, because of the fear of crime. Eric Adams says, it’s not a real fear. It is. It may be exaggerated in some cases, but there’s enough real

1:34 fear there to really generate tremendous fear in the minds of a very decent, good people who just don’t want to be exposed to that now. I was very disappointed when Keishan Sewell we police commissioner left, had a great regard for her. Apparently she felt that her hands are being tied and she left. But the good news now

1:53 is there is a new commissioner appointed, Eddie Cavan. I don’t know well all. I’ve only been him a few times, but from what I he understands what it means to be a cop. He’s worked his way up to the rights and I would hope that the mayor will get behind him. I know the Mayor’s appointed him, he’s got

2:09 to stand behind him and that you know he’s there won’t be interference coming from the city hall. Let him do his job, because we have to get climb under control, especially well, you know the district attorneys that are letting the bad guys out and then trying to lock up the good guys who just show a case this week.

2:26 We’re a police officer were a few years ago, I had gone to Upper West Side Apple store. There’s a complaint that a person who was in there threatening to assaulve to the attack and actually knife some of the employees.

2:42 And when the police officer arrived, the guys trying to resist the arrest. The cops have do him and now the cop, even though there’s minimal injury to the guy, the cop is now being charged of the felony because he punched him apparently as he was bringing the guy down.

2:57 So this is so sense, such a bad signal.

3:00 Speaker 1 So I just this is crazy that the police officer is getting arrested instead of instead of the the person committing a crime.

3:12 Speaker 2 Absolutely, especially the time at a time when shoplifting and is causing so many stores and businesses to shut down, especially by the way in low income areas where you know, with these stores that needed the most, I mean, pharmacies are either shutting down and there locking things up. You have to be a safe cracking to go in and

3:31 get a tube of toothpaste in some of these places because of this similar shoplifting. Here’s the person who was threatening violence. He was disrupting a store. The cop came to do his job. The guy resisted. He apparently took a swing at the cop and pushed back at the cop.

3:47 The cop maybe hit him once with you have to do to some dow people. And there was no damage done, no real injury done to the guy. In fact, the district attorney said that if completed guilty, they wouldn’t hit him with any kind of a serious time drove. If he’s not going to be hit with a serious charge,

4:03 you’re going to.

4:03 Speaker 1 Lose your job if you plead guilty. As a police officer.

4:07 Speaker 2 Absolutely, and when you think of the tough of cops shops to have to work under these conditions is maddening. It’s bad for the cop. It’s probably worse for the city because now other cops are going to see that and they’re going to be reluctant to jump in and do what they have to do, which is going to

4:23 mean more crime and more disorder. And more businesses closing down, and more people living leaving the city in the state, especially in the city. And we see now that so many businesses leaving the city, so many businesses having a hard time staying alive basically, and so many people with good incomes are leaving that revenue is are way down

4:44 in New York. We’re going to have an incredible jefficon nice sort a number. The other the other day, by the way, sean that the City of New York’s budget is going to be one hundred and seven billion dollars.

4:55 That is larger than forty seven states. So the budget and the city alone as larger than forty seven states, and that, yeah, that.

5:04 Speaker 1 Is mind boggling in there. And I don’t know if you saw the settlement the city just made with the black and Hispanic teachers that weren’t hired because maybe the test was too difficult. I don’t remember the exact words, but they’re paying one point eight billion dollars to them.

5:27 And when I spoke to Kathy Wilde, she said to me that that’s not covered by insurance. That’s part of the city. The city has to pay it out of their own budget. I mean, where’s all this money come from.

5:38 Speaker 2 Wow, there’s another item which maybe the numbers are as big, but it’s so pretty extreme. There’s gonna be millions of dollars against thirteen million dollars being paid out to the demonstrators in the George Floyd riots the summer of twenty twenty when the city was wrecked, of all the damage that was done, all the buildings were burned, all the

5:57 cops that are injured, and now on top of that we have to pay the demonstrators. It’s thirteen million. Wherever the number is. Everything is just going in the wrong direction. I’m hoping the may It can turn this around. I hope he wants the police script to do his job.

6:12 And I wish Governor Hoko would put more pressure on the state legislature to change these bare reform laws to give the police and the judges, give the judges the discretion they need because everything is going in the wrong direction, especially you know, looking at the balance sheets, this is your expertise, draw, not mine, but these revenues not coming

6:33 out coming in, rather going out but not coming in. We’re going to have such short force on sales, sacks on income tax, and so how do you make that up. It’s either going to be massive lay ups or bigger and bigger tax increases, which you’re going to cause more businesses to leave New York. So these are years ago,

6:52 Governor carry said, the days of wine and roses a rover. We didn’t realize we were living in paradise then compared to what we have now. But the days are wine and rows have to be over. Tough decisions have to be made financially, but also tough decisions to bring crime down.

7:05 Otherwise everything is going to get worse. The quality of life is going to get worse, and the economy is going to get worse.

7:11 Speaker 1 Congsmen, King, I agree with you one hundred and ten percent. And let’s pray for New York because we need God’s help.

7:21 Speaker 2 We certainly do. We certainly do. So we’ll catch up.

7:24 Speaker 1 I’ll see you on Monday.

7:26 Speaker 2 I’ll be there on Monday, John, see tomorrow right. Thank you,