Mayoral candidate Kathryn Garcia proposes major expansion of NYC’s cash for guns program
Fresh off her endorsement from the New York Times Editorial Board to become the city’s next mayor, former sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia proposed significantly expanding the city’s gun buyback program on Tuesday as she joined other hopefuls in focusing on firearms following a shocking shooting in Times Square.
Garcia said she’d boost the rebate rate for the city’s cash for guns program from $200 to $2,000, and increase the number of police precincts that participate in the program, which currently stands at just eight.
“We want New Yorkers to have the money to buy necessities and pay rent — not guns,” Garcia said outside the 90th Precinct station house in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which offers rebates.
Her plan to clamp down on gun violence also includes an increase in the scope of the NYPD Gun Violence Suppression Division, a focus on outdoor drug deals and an effort to better align cops, prosecutors and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Shootings have spiked in New York and other large cities during the coronavirus crisis, and Times Square was rocked by gunfire on Saturday that struck two women and a 4-year-old girl from Brooklyn.
Through May 2, 416 shootings were reported in the city, a more than 80% increase over the same period last year, according to police data.
As she made her pitch on gun violence, Garcia raised the specter of past decades, when the city witnessed far higher rates of homicides and violent crime.
“I know that we need police in this city,” she said. “I lived through the ‘70s and ‘80s. I remember not being able to take the subway at night.”
The longtime civil servant painted herself a hardened manager who will reform the police while cracking down on crime.
“I have no problem firing people who break the rules, and I will do the same when I am mayor,” Garcia said. “But we must have an eye on the whole picture and our future. We have to solve the problem of gun violence in front of us.“
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.
