The people, the lies and the conspiracy of the City of Yes

 

 

With the City of Yes of Housing Opportunity about to get heard by City Council and New Yorkers the next two days, Intrepid City Planner Paul Graziano dropped a report on the sneaky tactics at the previous zoom hearing and sneaky people trying to get the worst housing plan in New York City history approved in spite of majority rejection by community boards and residents.

Here are the best parts on Paul's X account.

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The video above happens to be from this farcical rally with everyone from Paul's COY list. They can't even answer housing related questions and defend their agendas without their YIMBY scripts and talking points. And they refuse to answer the most important question no one is asking these dopes, who is going to build this City of Yes?

Don't call it a City Of Yes: New Jamaica zoning proposal finally revealed

 

 City Limits

The city is moving forward on plans to rezone a swath of Jamaica, Queens—what officials say aims to boost both housing and economic opportunities around the area’s many public transit hubs.

The Department of City Planning (DCP) on Monday unveiled the “Draft Zoning Framework” for the Jamaica Neighborhood Plan—crafted after six months of community workshops and a public survey, and a precursor to a more formal rezoning proposal expected later this year.

The 300-block study area encompasses the Jamaica Rail Hub and surrounding downtown, CUNY’s York College campus, the Hollis LIRR station and several branching-off “transit corridors,” including Hillside and Jamaica avenues and Sutphin, Guy R. Brewer and Merrick boulevards. 

The framework proposes to “increase density and allow housing in appropriate, key areas,” according to a DCP presentation, including through the city’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program, which requires new housing in rezoned areas include a portion of income-restricted homes. It would retain several hubs for industrial uses, and prioritize others for “mixed use” development.

 The area is represented by City Councilmember Nantasha Williams, whose district has seen 3,400 new units of city-financed affordable housing since 2014, according to DCP (a tracker published by the New York Housing Conference ranks it 13th out of the city’s 51 Council districts when it comes to affordable development). 

Just more than half of homes in Jamaica are occupied by renters, 59 percent of whom are rent burdened, meaning they spend at least a third or more of their income on housing, according to DCP. The district has a higher homeownership rate than both the borough of Queens and the city as whole, though more than half of its homeowners are considered “mortgage burdened.”

In a statement accompanying the release of the draft framework, Williams—who as the local rep will play a key role during public review of the plan, and the Council’s ultimate vote on it—stressed the importance of ensuring “stakeholders feel their voice is being heard in every step of this process.”

“This zoning framework allows DCP to begin the environmental review process into how much our community can grow in the future and what the needs will be,” Williams said.

The proposal is one of several neighborhood rezonings being pursued by the Adams administration, alongside plans to boost development around new Metro-North stations in the Bronx and in Central Brooklyn. 

It comes as the city grapples with an extreme housing shortage: the most recent survey of the city’s inventory released last week found that just 1.41 percent of rental units were vacant last year, the lowest availability since 1968. 

City Planning expects to release a more formal zoning proposal for Jamaica—to include specific zoning districts and projections for how many new units of housing it aims to create—in the next couple of months, according to a spokesperson. 

The months-long public review process, known as ULURP, will likely begin at the end of the year, the spokesperson added.

 

The Queensway has just been approved

 

NY1

Mayor Eric Adams on Friday unveiled an investment of $35 million to begin phase one of QueensWay, a new linear park planned for Queens.

The funding includes $2.5 million from the City Council, a press release said. 

“We are moving from a city of no to a city of yes and QueensWay is the way we are going to go throughout this entire city,” Adams said at news conference in Forest Hills. “And ensure that open space, green ways, good clean environments for children and families will continue to grow in this city.”   

The first phase of the project will help transform a section of an abandoned Long Island Rail Road line in Forest Hills, known as the Met Hub, into a five-acre park.

Once complete, the 47-acre QueensWay will provide the 2.4 million residents living in the borough with a new open space that will give them access to recreational amenities, outdoor educational programs and an alternative transportation to schools, businesses, and 10 bus lines, the release said. 

“QueensWay improves quality of life, improves the air quality and it promotes both physical and mental well-being and it gives more visibility to businesses along the route,” Adams said. “And so this is an economic stimulus as well.” 

But some residents were hoping get more transit options.

Last month, state, local and federal officials signed onto a letter calling for Adams and Gov. Hochul environmental impact study on the prospect of a subway line being extended into the area.

“QueensWay improves quality of life, improves the air quality and it promotes both physical and mental well-being and it gives more visibility to businesses along the route,” Adams said. “And so this is an economic stimulus as well.” 

 The gaslighting by every elected official at this announcement about the lack of park space and how it's a transit desert is mind blowing. Forest Park is by there and spans 4 neighborhoods. Numerous bus lines go around there. This also throws any plan to restore the rail transit line in the garbage.

And here's another thing. Why are two members from Transportation Alternatives there? That's Peter Beadle on the left who was at that hilarious parody protest against Jenifer Rajkumar by the rail line last year and fellow bike zealot and shameless anti-car fascist Juan Restrepo. Does that "non"-profit "public streets advocacy" organization have a government office we are not aware of? Their presence is also heinous because their Queens chairman Jim Burke recently defamed a community group led by a gay man as homophobes and racists with absolutely no evidence with the help of one of their fellow elected officials in City Council!

It's astounding how this plan just materialized from thin air after Adams made budget cuts to every municipality only a few days ago and city council found money to fund this fantastical project. This isn't the city of yes like Swagger Adams says, this is the twilight zone.

Open Street organizer and creator falsely maligns community group run by a gay man as homophobes

 Jackson Heights Post

 A heated dispute has erupted between opposing sides of the 34^th Avenue Open Street program in Jackson Heights — with the initiative’s co-founder saying he was the victim of homophobic slurs leveled at him by members of an opposition group.

Jim Burke, a well-known LGBT activist (and volunteer capo for Transportation Alternatives-JQ LLC) and co-founder of the 34^th Avenue Open Streets Coalition, says a dispute surrounding the use of 34th Avenue led to him being verbally abused.

The 34th Avenue Open Street Coalition have been staunch advocates for the corridor to be made a permanent open street, while a rival group, the Jackson Heights Coop Alliance, opposes the concept, arguing that is unfair to drivers who need to park their cars and that it makes it tough for emergency vehicles to traverse.

Burke, in an interview with the Queens Post Tuesday, said he was called a “c**k-sucking f****t,” by an SUV driver who he believes is a member of the Jackson Heights Coop Alliance. However, Burke said that he wasn’t 100 percent sure that the driver is a member of the Alliance since he doesn’t know all the people that are part of the group.

Ricardo Pacheco, the leader of the Jackson Heights Coops Alliance, was critical of Burke for making the accusations and is demanding Burke provide further evidence. He said the accusations are slanderous and are just a means to undermine his group.

Pacheco also criticized local leaders, such as Councilmember Shekar Krishnan, who held a press conference Monday accusing the alliance of bigotry. He said Krishnan did not investigate the allegations and his actions were malicious.

Burke also said there have been various instances where passers-by on the street have uttered racist epithets at volunteers. He said that his partner Oscar Escobar, whose first language is Spanish and speaks English with an accent, was asked by two opponents to show his “papers.”

Burke, however, said he doesn’t know for sure if the racist comments were made by members of the Jackson Heights Coop Alliance, although he assumes so.

Burke said he has been targeted because of his role with the 34th Avenue Open Street program. His group advocates for making the 34th Avenue Open Street program – which runs 26 blocks from Junction Boulevard to 69th Street along 34th Avenue – a permanent fixture in the neighborhood.

The strip — which is currently closed off to traffic from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Mondays through Sundays under the program — is being converted into a series of pedestrian plazas and traffic-restricted zones, in accordance with a plan released by the Department of Transportation in October.

Advocates for the open streets plan, known as Paseo Park, argue that the open streets initiative has been a huge success since it creates much-needed public space in the neighborhood.

Opponents of the plan, however, say the plan eliminates much-needed parking and makes it harder for emergency vehicles to access local residents.

Burke wrote that the e-mail led to unnecessary strife in the neighborhood by directing hate toward the volunteers of the 34th Avenue Open Streets Coalition.

“Purported members of this group have used homophobic, xenophobic, and racist slurs against our volunteers and program participants, sometimes in the presence of children and community members,” Burke wrote. The letter did not go into specifics about the alleged hate-filled incidents.

He called on Richards to investigate the Board’s leadership for sending out the email.

On Monday, the LGBT Network, a group advocating for LGBT people in Queens and Long Island, held a press conference along the 34^th Avenue Open Street to bring attention to the alleged incidents against members of the Coalition and called for an end to hate in the neighborhood.

Burke attended the press conference and was joined by Councilmember Shekar Krishnan, former Councilmember Danny Dromm, and David Kilmnick, president and founder of the New York LGBT Network.

Krishnan stood with Burke and the activists to condemn the alleged bigotry.

“I am appalled at the homophobic harassment that 34th Avenue volunteers like Jim Burke and many others have had to experience by members of the so-called Jackson Heights Coops Alliance,” Krishnan said.

“No matter how their members may feel about 34th Avenue, there is no excuse to engage in hate. Jackson Heights Coops Alliance must condemn its members’ actions now.”

  The press conference sparked an almost immediate response from the Jackson Heights Coop Alliance, which released a statement late Monday condemning the media event.

“The malicious accusation directed at us by Councilmember Shekar Krishnan and the 34th Avenue volunteer Jim Burke without concrete evidence is disturbing, if not pure slander,” the statement, written by Pacheco reads.

“We demand any evidence that supports this claim.”

Furthermore, Pacheco, who is an LGBT activist, alleges that his group was not contacted about Burke’s claims before the press conference was held.

On Tuesday, Pacheco wrote an open letter to Krishnan, labeling the councilmember’s actions as “malicious and libelous.”

“Without a shred of evidence, nor even a preliminary investigation, you proceeded to make malicious, baseless, unfounded, unverified and hateful allegations against the Jackson Heights Coops Alliance,” the letter reads.

“This was nothing less than a precalculated attempt to embarrass, discredit and defame our name as a community organization and attempted to portray me as being a homophobic bigot.”

“As the president and a gay man myself who has a long history and proven track record of advocating for the civil rights of LGBTQ+ community, I would never tolerate such bigotry from our alliance or from anyone else.”

Pacheco also called on Krishnan to make a public apology for his actions.

Krishnan responded to Pacheco’s open letter on Wednesday with a brief statement to the Queens Post.

“We take every instance of hate speech brought to us very seriously,” Krishnan said.

“It’s shocking that when a victim comes forward, the response by some is to discredit and vilify rather than condemn the harassment.”

 Wow, Jimmy is the Jussie Smollett of open streets. For someone who claims that his open street brings people together its hysterical how he never bothered to communicate with his neighbors from the co-op alliance. But it's clear that he chose to feud with them instead and weaponized his connections with elected officials to close 25 blocks from residents, delivery people, and city emergency and sanitation services who need to drive on them. And he didn't even bother to find out the alliance leader was a gay man like him and tried to weaponize bigotry to his and his political allies advantage. 

All for a stupid fake park and anti-car agenda. 

The Department Of Transportation Alternatives will never compromise

Queens Post

Council Member Bob Holden is calling for the firing of Queens DOT Commissioner Nicole Garcia arguing that she fails to listen to the concerns of residents and shows contempt for local civic organizations.

Holden’s call for Garcia’s ousting comes at a time when the DOT is working on installing 52 Citi Bike stations in Middle Village and Maspeth, both neighborhoods he represents.

The council member has been critical of the agency for not properly notifying his constituents about the Middle Village/Maspeth plan, and then failing to work with civic groups—such as Juniper Park Civic Association (JPCA) —in terms of where the stations should be installed.

The JPCA, which has embraced the Citi Bike expansion, has been calling on the DOT to place the stations on sidewalks—as opposed to on the street—as a means to preserve parking spaces. Christina Wilkinson, secretary of the association, put together a detailed plan as to where the proposed street stations could be moved to avoid the loss of parking.

The DOT rejected these calls last month, prompting criticism from Holden. (click for JPCA proposal and DOT response)

“Garcia’s Queens DOT shows nothing but contempt for local civic organizations in middle-class neighborhoods, particularly in their refusal to seriously consider requests regarding Citi Bike installations,” Holden said.

The councilmember argues that the Queens DOT is not sincere when it says it wants community feedback.

Holden said that many neighborhoods in Queens desperately need parking spaces and have little use for renting bicycles, including seniors, families with children and the disabled.

“Lyft’s Citi Bike agenda lacks any regard for those New Yorkers and has no interest in inclusivity. The DOT should stand up for these New Yorkers and stop doing Lyft’s bidding. One of the great things about living in New York City, particularly in Queens, is that every neighborhood has its own character. The Queens DOT denies this unique diversity by forcing a one-size fits all approach to bike stations across the city.”

He said it’s time for the Queens DOT to turn a page and advocate for its residents. He said the agency also has a history of denying requests for stop signs, speed bumps and other traffic safety measures in his district that would keep his constituents safe.

“The Queens DOT can only move our borough toward a safer future with a new commissioner who will listen to community feedback and respond swiftly to the needs of Queens taxpayers.”

“Garcia’s Queens DOT makes a dog and pony show out of asking for community input and then throws it in the gutter. Lyft’s Citi Bike program continues to gobble up parking spaces badly needed by hardworking New Yorkers, like a giant corporate PAC MAN who refuses to hear the reasonable requests of middle-class neighborhoods in favor of the fanatical anti-car movement and a corporation with a vested interest in getting New Yorkers to give up owning cars.”

The Blaz's expensive lies

 

THE CITY 

Last fall the city Department of Investigation released a damning report declaring that then-Mayor Bill de Blasio needed to reimburse the taxpayers $320,000 for the cost of bringing his NYPD detail along during his quixotic and ultimately failed quest for the White House.

At the time, the mayor questioned DOI’s findings, claimed there were “inaccuracies” in the report, and insisted he was simply following the advice of the NYPD. He also maintained he had “never received any contradictory guidance” on the use of the detail.

But a day before he announced his bid for the White House, he did receive explicit advice from the Conflicts of Interest Board (COIB) informing him in no uncertain terms that he must pay back the city for the use of the detail on the campaign trail.

The clarity of this instruction is revealed in a May 15, 2019 letter obtained by THE CITY via the Freedom of Information Law, signed by then-COIB Chairperson Richard Briffault to de Blasio’s City Hall counsel, Kapil Longani.

Briffault’s advice on how to avoid violating city conflict rules is unambiguous:

“The City may pay for only the salary and/or overtime of the NYPD personnel on such a campaign trip,” Briffault wrote. “All other costs associated with such personal campaign travel — including but not limited to airfare, rental cars, overnight accommodations, meals and other reasonable incidental expenses — must not be borne by the City. Rather these costs must be paid for or reimbursed by the Mayor’s campaign committee.”

In explaining his decision to de Blasio, Briffault noted federal campaign finance rules would require a federal candidate to repay a government for the use of governmental resources as part of a campaign. De Blasio is currently one of more than a dozen candidates running for Congress in the 10th Congressional District.

Three years after receiving COIB’s letter, the former mayor has yet to pay a dime.

De Blasio did not respond to a voice message left by THE CITY early Thursday asking about the straightforward declaration from COIB and his decision to disregard it. Neal Kwatra, a spokesperson for his congressional campaign, followed up later in an email to say he’d need more time to research the issue before answering.

THE CITY

Former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s signature NYC Ferry took taxpayers for a pricey ride when city economic development officials underreported its costs by nearly a quarter of a billion dollars, City Comptroller Brad Lander said Wednesday.

Lander accused the city of “playing hide the ball” on ferry finances and criticized the economics and oversight of the watery transportation network, which launched under de Blasio in 2017 and promised heavily subsidized $2.75-per-ride trips from piers in all five boroughs.

The comptroller’s report says the Economic Development Corporation rang up $758 million in ferry-related costs from July 2015 through the end of last year — but only reported $534 million in expenses in its audited financial statements and other records.

“This is a very substantial financial underreporting and mismanagement,” Lander said while standing near Pier 11 in Lower Manhattan. “$250 million of underreporting raises a lot of questions and those questions should be asked.”

Auditors found that the city’s actual subsidy on each ferry trip rose to nearly double the $6.60-per-trip subsidy that the de Blasio administration originally projected. The city subsidy amounted to $12.88 for Fiscal Year 2021, according to the report, not the $8.59 that was originally reported.

“It is a premium service, like express buses and it is also a tourist commodity,” Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens Budget Commission, told THE CITY. “We should be pricing the ferries accordingly and that should be able to reduce that subsidy.”

The comptroller’s report follows a series of stories in THE CITY about NYC Ferry, including one in January that revealed how de Blasio’s budget office supplied a $23.2 million infusion for the service before he left City Hall at the end of 2021 — after the service had previously been funded by the EDC.

“The ferry system was eating the EDC budget,” said Rein, whose nonprofit organization detailed in a 2019 report how subsidies for NYC Ferry are among the highest in the country for comparable ferry networks.

Lander’s report calls into question the purchase of new boats — something THE CITY flagged in April 2019 — as well as the $2.75 fare that de Blasio insisted on for the privately operated ferry trips. The price of an NYC Ferry trip is considerably lower than one on similar services in San Francisco and Boston.

On the San Francisco Bay Ferry, for example, fares are determined by three different zones, with the priciest zoned trip set at $11.25 for a paper ticket or $9.00 for rides paid for through mobile devices or the Clipper fare-payment system. 

De Blasio, in a statement through a spokesperson for his campaign for Congress, said he could not comment on Lander’s report because he had yet to fully review it.

The Department of Transportation Alternatives petition for a bus route to the Ridgewood Reservoir is based on bald faced lies

(From the Department of TransAlt website.)

Ridgewood Reservoir Needs A Bus Stop

The historic Ridgewood Reservoir is a 50-acre natural oasis that serves diverse communities on the border of Brooklyn and Queens. Despite its beauty, ecological importance, and open access, the Ridgewood Reservoir, which is proximate to some of the poorest areas in New York City, is impossible to reach by public transportation.

The Ridgewood Reservoir needs a direct bus stop for New Yorkers to enjoy its benefits. 

The reservoir is ill-served by current public transportation options. The closest subway station is the J train at Norwood Avenue, a mile away. The closest bus stop is the Q56 at Jamaica and Shepherd Avenues, a half-mile from the reservoir. Our greenspace currently serves as a cultural and ecological treasure solely for New Yorkers who can drive to it.

With more transportation options, our reservoir will be accessible to all New Yorkers to enjoy its many health benefits. This includes a multi-use path for walking, biking and running, bird watching and flowers, as a quiet respite from the city, and more!

So the Department of TransAlt wants to screw around with a Queens bus line so it could make a stop by here. I'll let Crappy explain why this is full of gaslighting bullshit and will do more harm than good (the good being that will mostly benefit the bike and public space scientology cult):

"Why lie? The B13 is maybe 300 feet from the north entrance. Maybe work on making that area by the Jackie safer instead of ruining someone’s commute by taking a bus out of the way. I’ve never heard of a bus line being routed to serve a park feature rather than the park itself.

 It’s more that there is a heavily used parking lot where they want a bus stop and all the Caribbean and Dominicans using it destroy the narrative that only white people use cars.

 When Bloomberg announced it was going to be a destination park the gentrifiers started sniffing around. Then he dropped it and so did they. Except for these turds, who are trying to monetize the park for their benefit.

 The community board there was circulating a letter from MTA which showed that it would take the bus well off the route and lengthen commutes considerably, and if they used it as an end of line type of thing it was impossible to turn the bus around.

 On top of that, the two buses that run there are Brooklyn routes and these dopes are sending out instructions to testify about the Queens bus redesign."

 

What's really funny is that there are routes where you can easily get there by bike from the Queens side, isn't that what this damn think tank bike lobby exists for, so why annoy everyone?

de Blasio's pay to play and pandemic secrets and lies

 

THE CITY 

Mayor Bill de Blasio violated ethics rules twice by hitting up real estate industry players for donations to a nonprofit he created to boost pet projects, a city board found — but he got away with just warning letters.

City Hall released the two letters Wednesday from the Conflicts of Interest Board, dating from 2014 and 2018, after losing a protracted legal battle with The New York Times to shield the missives from public view.

It was a Department of Investigation report obtained by THE CITY in April 2019 that initially revealed the mayor had solicited funds from donors who had business pending with his administration.

The ethics letters concern the Campaign for One New York, a group that raised over $4 million between 2014 and 2016 to tout such initiatives as pre-K and affordable housing — and promote de Blasio himself as he sought to influence the 2016 Democratic presidential primary.

The records reveal for the first time that the conflicts board cited de Blasio just six months into his administration, in July 2014, for violating ethics rules by personally soliciting $150,000 in donations from people or entities with business before the city.

Not even seven months after receiving the 2014 warning, he kept making similar fundraising calls — asking for donations from two additional developers and James Capalino, a lobbyist who had helped buoy his campaign for mayor, according to the 2018 warning letter.

Both violations occurred after the board had advised de Blasio’s campaign lawyer just after the mayor’s January 2014 inauguration that solicitations of that nature are prohibited by the city’s charter.

 The conflicts board noted in 2018 that the mayor also failed to provide a disclaimer to potential donors that their donations wouldn’t influence any city decisions.

“By soliciting these three donations from firms with business pending or about to be pending before executive agencies, and providing no disclaimers, you not only disregarded the Board’s repeated written advice, but created the very appearance of coercion and improper access to you and your staff that the Board’s advice sought to help you avoid,” the September 2018 letter says.

Despite the stern wording of the letter, it concludes that because the mayor’s nonprofit was disbanded in March 2016 — and because City Council passed legislation further regulating donations to city-affiliated nonprofits — that no discipline was warranted other than the warning.

THE CITY 

 As COVID-19 ravaged New York in March 2020, officials at the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene began plotting out where the virus was striking hardest across the five boroughs.

A map of fatalities, broken down by ZIP code, was ready to go online in the first week of April as New York neared the expected peak of deaths, according to people familiar with the matter and to emails reviewed by THE CITY.

“I think that the reality of this scenario is we need to be transparent to the highest level,” one top health department doctor wrote in an April 5, 2020, email, two days before coronavirus fatalities reached their apex.

But City Hall did not approve public release of neighborhood-level death data until May 18. New York City saw 12,923 confirmed and 3,399 probable deaths from the coronavirus between April 5 and May 18, 2020.

The emails provide a window into Mayor Bill de Blasio’s management of pandemic information in the harrowing early weeks of the COVID crisis — a glimpse revealed at a moment when his Department of Health once again demands the trust of New Yorkers as new variants, including Omicron, spread.

On Monday, the mayor announced a broad vaccine mandate for all private-sector employees — calling the move a “pre-emptive strike” against another possible wave of infections.

“We can talk about all the other tools and we will, but vaccination is the central weapon in this war against COVID,” he said.

“It’s the one thing that has worked every single time across the board on a strategic level. It’s the reason New York City is back in so many ways.”

Nearly 35,000 New Yorkers have died of COVID-19 since the first death was confirmed in early March 2020.

When New York faced its first COVID wave that spring, longtime city health department staffers believed it was vital to release information about where people were dying — even with caveats of imperfect data and a rapidly changing situation, according to people familiar with the matter and to the emails reviewed by THE CITY.

But information languished after being approved by the health department, which couldn’t publish anything without City Hall’s OK, those familiar with the matter said.

City Hall officials, though, blamed the delay in releasing the granular fatality data on a split within the health department, where, they said, some officials contended that ZIP code-level maps could create a stigma in hard-hit communities and a false sense of safety in other neighborhoods.

At that point, the virus was surging: Hundreds of New Yorkers a day were dying of COVID-19, with 815 people succumbing on April 7 — the deadliest day for the city during the pandemic’s so far 21-month toll.

Using borough-level fatality data then available, THE CITY had revealed on April 3, 2020, that Bronx residents were dying at a rate double that of the city, spurring calls for focused help and resources. When the city’s first fatality map was finally released on May 18, 2020, it showed that COVID largely slammed poor neighborhoods hardest.

Meanwhile, Dr. Oxiris Barbot, then the health commissioner, was battling behind the scenes with de Blasio over the city’s response to the unprecedented health crisis. De Blasio also clashed frequently with then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Danielle Filson, a spokesperson for de Blasio, responded to THE CITY’s inquiries with a statement:

“City Hall swiftly delivered critical information to New Yorkers, and did so with accuracy and integrity,” she said. “We led the nation in our response to the pandemic — holding daily press conferences while setting up a testing and vaccine infrastructure that has kept New York City safe.”

Subway crime? What subway crime; de Blasio lies in front of his police commissioner's face

 

NY Post

 Mayor de Blasio on Thursday waved aside New Yorkers’ fears over a recent spate of shocking subway crimes — including the concerns of NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea, claiming that the top cop never sounded the alarm, as he sat just feet away.

The denial of reality came in the wake of several high-profile crimes on the rails, including a straphanger being randomly shoved onto the tracks this week in what Shea said has become “too common” an occurrence.

Shea went on to say in a Wednesday NY1 interview that part of the problem was cops being restricted in interacting with the mentally ill in the subway system since the city’s push to use trained workers, not the Finest, for such calls — though not to de Blasio’s recollection.

“Any suggestion that the NYPD can’t do what it needs to do to stop an incident like that in the subways is absolutely false, and the commissioner never said that,” de Blasio chided CBS 2 reporter Marcia Kramer, who broached the subject during a City Hall briefing Thursday. “Don’t put words in his mouth, with all due respect.”

After a brief response from Shea — who did not address the mental illness issue, instead vowing increased NYPD visibility underground as a deterrent — Kramer fired back by directly quoting the commissioner’s Wednesday remarks.

“It’s not easy but we need to talk about it because, at the same time we’re saying, take the police out of mental health illness,” Shea said Wednesday. “In appropriate circumstances we support that, but there’s got to be follow up. This person is a danger, unfortunately, and he’s not alone.”

De Blasio then tried to dismiss the line of questioning as fearmongering.

“We can talk about facts and encourage the people to understand the facts, or we can just create fear for the sake of fear,” he said. “We choose the former. We choose to tell people that the NYPD is out there every day, protecting their safety, that subways have been made much safer over time.

deBlasio and the NYPD lie about court's role in the rise in shootings, and continue to lie about it.

NY Post

They’re starting to run out of excuses.

The mayor and police have repeatedly blamed a coronavirus-related court shutdown for the explosion of gun violence rocking the city — but firearms cases are making their way through the criminal justice system at the same rate as last year, a Post investigation shows.

The revelations come after The Post showed that the NYPD’s own data did not support those claims that bail reform and early prison releases over coronavirus were driving the spike.

“It’s a combination of things — bail reform, COVID releases from prison, court shutdown, which has Rikers [Island] at half of where they were,” Chief of Department Terence Monahan said in a July 6 press briefing, seeking to explain the 70-percent rise in shootings this year. Commissioner Dermot Shea and Mayor de Blasio have also blamed court closure for the uptick, with Shea calling the tie “indisputable” on Monday.

But the data tells another story.

In December 2019, as the city officials touted a record-breaking low in shootings, there were 2,285 open gun cases in Gotham with 13 percent of suspects awaiting trial, according to an analysis by The Post.

In July 2020, with shootings skyrocketing to 1990s-like levels, the courts had 2,181 open firearms cases and 10 percent in lockup — or 104 fewer pending gun cases, the data shows.

Additionally, of the 1,957 people facing gun charges out on the streets in July — which is 27 fewer than in December — only 2 percent, or 39 people, were busted again for a firearm, according to the data obtained by The Post.

There were also more gun and murder arraignments from April to June compared to October through December last year, with 819 over the three-month period this year compared to 642 last year, court data shows.

NY Post

The buck continues to stop everywhere but on Mayor Bill de Blasio’s desk.

Hizzoner once again attacked the messenger Thursday rather than address a new Post article that found firearms cases are going through the criminal justice system at the same rate as last year — refuting his claims that a coronavirus-related court shutdown is most responsible for this summer’s surge in shootings

“I have not seen The Post article and I don’t always get accuracy from that publication,” de Blasio sniffed during a virtual City Hall press briefing when asked about the damning piece by a Wall Street Journal reporter.

In December 2019, there were 2,285 open gun cases in Gotham with 13 percent of suspects awaiting trial, according to the Post analysis based on NYPD and court data. In July 2020, the courts had 2,181 open firearms cases and 10 percent in lockup — or 104 fewer pending gun cases, the data shows.

There were also more gun and murder arraignments from April to June compared to October through December last year, with 819 over the three-month period this year compared to 642 last year, court data shows.

De Blasio tried to discredit those numbers — before realizing they came from his own police department.

“Anyone can try and manipulate a statistic,” he said.

When the Journal reporter pointed out the data were NYPD statistics, de Blasio refused to back down.

“It’s a publication that historically has provided inaccurate information. It may be accurate statistics in this case, but I’m just not going to be gentle about the point that when there is a history of inaccuracy and an axe to grind it’s worth saying,” de Blasio fumed at The Post, rather than addressing the issue at hand.

“There is no one claiming the court system is functioning as normal. There’s just no one doing it,” de Blasio flailed.