For a brief period of political sanity, everyone in New York seemed to understand that the basic premise of “broken windows” policing was essential to the city’s survival. Enforcing the law against behavior that contributed to the impression that Gotham was a lawless place where people could not live in safety was essential to the historic revival that took place on the watches of former Mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg.
All that has gone out the window during the term of Mayor Bill de Blasio, as the police were demonized by woke ideologues and race-baiting extremists, while, among other things, punishment of offenses relating to panhandling and public decency was dropped.
The collapse of public order isn’t only on him: New York state also played a major role in the city’s destruction with a “bail reform” law — essentially, a “get-out-of-jail-free” card to repeat offenders — and other brainless measures. But now Albany has further added to the city’s problems with a law that will decriminalize open drug use, including letting addicts shoot up in public spaces and even share needles.
The measure, signed into law this month by Gov. Kathy Hochul, triggered a troubling directive to New York cops: “Effective immediately, members of the service should not take any enforcement action against any individual who possesses a hypodermic needle, even when it contains residue of a controlled substance.”
If you thought parks and other public spaces were already becoming no-go zones for businesses, families and kids, well, it’s about to get a lot worse. The law has forced the city to wave the white flag on any effort to make these places safe once again for those not interested in drug use or crime.
Like so many other terrible ideas, this one is being justified as part of an effort to help people: Democrats passed it as part of a legislative package devoted to combating the epidemic of opioid addiction, a genuine crisis that requires the state to devote more resources to helping those afflicted by this problem, including more recovery programs.
Hochul & Co. claim that decriminalizing the sale and possession of hypodermic needles and syringes will promote public safety by “permitting harm-reduction approaches for those suffering from substance-use disorder and by reducing the rate at which HIV and hepatitis are transmitted.” But there is a huge difference between permitting the handing out of free needles so addicts don’t share them (and thus pass deadly viruses) and what this law does. Legalizing open use of drug paraphernalia enables those who prey upon addicts and does nothing to provide an exit ramp from drug dependency.
It actually makes needle-sharing more likely, which will lead to more drug deaths from hepatitis and HIV.
This will surely make New York a more dangerous place to live and further degrade the quality of life in a city where it is already in steep decline. Places like Washington Square Park and Midtown Manhattan will become even more problematic.
Were New York governed by people with any concern for public safety, as opposed to leftist ideologues who think handcuffing the cops is a higher priority than fighting crime (a group Hochul is eager to appease in order to win her party’s nomination for governor), the state would be ordering mayors to get addicts off the streets and into treatment centers. That’s a point that likely future mayor Eric Adams made when he noted that this measure will create chaos if it’s not accompanied by such an effort.
Instead, chaos and impunity for criminal behavior is what Hochul and the Legislature are giving us. Any hope for restoring a sense that New York belongs to its law-abiding citizens rather than to druggies, alcoholics and the mentally ill is going down the drain as this law goes into effect.
Jonathan S. Tobin is editor in chief of JNS.org
Twitter: @jonathans_tobin