When Did We Decide That Living in Fear Was Just Part of Living in New York City? I just watched New York Attorney General candidate Saritha Komatireddy describe a horrifying incident in the Bronx involving a repeat offender who allegedly shot a young man, emptied a cash register, and fled. What disturbed me just as much was the attitude she challenged. The notion that these things simply happen in big cities and that people should accept them. NO! We do not have to accept this as normal! I have family in the Bronx. My family has lived there for more than 65 years. These aren’t anonymous statistics to me. These are mothers, fathers, children, cousins, and grandparents who deserve to walk their neighborhoods without wondering whether they’ll make it home. And I have a serious question for New York’s elected officials. How many times must a repeat offender pass through the criminal justice system before somebody examines why that individual remains on the streets? How much public funding has been allocated to public safety, and what measurable improvements have taxpayers received? We have developed an almost Kafkaesque bureaucracy in which enormous resources are devoted to addressing public disorder, yet ordinary families are still demanding the most fundamental protection government is supposed to provide. I want accountability from Governor Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James, legislators, prosecutors, and every public official responsible for the policies governing criminal justice. And I want something more substantial than another press conference. Show us the repeat-offender statistics. Show us the prosecution outcomes. Show us how many defendants were released and subsequently charged with another serious offense. Show us what changed after billions of taxpayer dollars were spent. Public safety should be measured by the safety of the people, not the size of the government programs created in its name. Saritha Komatireddy has raised a question New Yorkers deserve to have answered. Why should families accept preventable criminal chaos as the unavoidable price of living in a major American city? My family in the Bronx matters. So does yours. And I refuse to regard their safety as an acceptable political casualty. @sarithaforny has my vote… does she have yours? #AStoneGroove #SilentMajoritySpeaks