Eric Adams rips Yang over crime plan: ‘It’s obvious Andrew has been on my website’
A day after they held dueling news conferences in Times Square on gun violence, mayoral candidate Eric Adams ripped rival Andrew Yang’s crime plan as a watered-down copy-cat version of his own program.
“It’s obvious Andrew has been on my website,” Adams said of Yang’s proposals. “I got it.”
Brooklyn’s borough president has made the reduction of gun violence a key point in his campaign for mayor and has spent weeks calling on his opponents to speak out about the rising rate of shootings in the city.
But Adams bristled when Yang stumped at Times Square on Sunday after bullets struck a 4-year-old girl and two others near Broadway. After the stunning Saturday shooting, Yang outlined plans for more plainclothes cops and a new anti-violence unit, echoing Adams’ proposals.
In turn, Adams presented Yang as a Johnny-come-lately. On Monday, as he stopped at a Stuyvesant Town subway station to decry crimes on the MTA, Adams continued to hammer his competitor.
The former NYPD captain said Yang’s plan is missing the detail and expansiveness of his own, stressing the need to choke the so-called Iron Pipeline that carries firearms from the South to the Northeast.
“His plan took some of my points,” Adams said. “We also have to stop the flow of guns. It’s prevention and intervention.”
And he called out Yang, who lives in Hell’s Kitchen, for only focusing on gun violence after a publicized shooting reached his neighborhood. According to NYPD data, the city saw 416 shootings this year through May 2, a more than 80% increase from the same period last year.
“For him to come and recycle my plan as though all of a sudden he realized we were having gunshots in this city — that’s not acceptable,” Adams said. “He really does not have a clue on what we must do to make this city safe.”
Asked about Adams’ criticisms on Monday, Yang described himself as a steady voice on crime.
“If you look at our positions during the campaign, we were, I believe, the only candidate to call for an increased police presence on subway platforms and stations in response to incidents there,” Yang said in Queens.
He added that he’s had “a consistent position on policing and public safety generally.”
Jake Sporn, Yang’s campaign press secretary, also questioned Adams’ track record on violence as a borough president, noting rising bloodshed in Brooklyn.
“He’s had fifteen years in office to lead on crime and public safety and has nothing to show for it,” Sporn said in a statement.
The latest back-and-forth between the two candidates arrives after a poll surfaced last week showing Adams leading the Democratic primary field. Yang had typically topped the limited polling in the crowded race that’s expected to determine the city’s next mayor.
Joined by representatives from the Transport Workers Union Local 100, Adams took the subway from the First Ave. L station to Chambers St. in lower Manhattan, an area of the city where several violent attacks against passengers have taken place over the past few weeks.
A former transit cop, Adams urged better communication between law enforcement units and that the city should deploy more mental health professionals underground while increasing access to supportive housing and psychiatric beds.
“MTA is not a psychiatric facility where people should live and sleep,” Adams said. “This is unacceptable, and it’s inhumane.”
Check out our special section for the latest news on the critical 2021 elections in NYC. And to have the essential news and analysis sent to your inbox, sign up for our Campaign Diaries newsletter.
