On Sept. 23 Alison Esposito, a Republican who is vying to become New York State’s next Lt. Governor paid a visit to two local daycare centers in Brooklyn, New York to speak to the local Asian community about her platform.
“We, right now, unfortunately, are living in a little bit of an upside down world,” she told the crowd, adding that, “People are afraid right now. People are afraid in this city to take mass transit. People are afraid right now to let their children go to the parks. People are afraid to live and work in this city because we stopped holding criminals accountable for their actions.”
A retired New York Police Department (NYPD) officer, Esposito spent nearly 25-years serving New Yorkers in a variety of roles. She began her career as a beat cop, patrolling Manhattan’s Midtown South precinct and eventually moved up through the ranks to become the commanding officer and deputy inspector of the 70th police precinct.
“I saw this city change in 25 years. I saw public safety suffer in the most recent years due to dangerous policies that our elected officials are implementing,” she said.
Espoito is referring to a variety of initiatives implemented by the incumbent Democrat led New York State government which she says has “stopped protecting people.”
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One of the more pressing matters Esposito wants to address are the cashless bail laws that went into effect in New York State in 2020 which experts point to as the catalyst for skyrocketing crime rates in the Empire State.
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According to a recent report titled “More Criminals, More Crime: Measuring the Public Safety Impact of New York’s 2018 Bail Law” crime in New York State has soared, in practically every category, following the implementation of the 2018 Bail Law.
According to the report, the period between March 15, 2019 and March 15, 2020 saw burglaries in New York state rise by 26.5 percent while robberies rose by an astounding 33.9 percent.
Shooting incidents rose by 22.9 percent during the same period as well as grand larceny which increased by 15.8 percent. Car thefts increased by an astounding 68 percent in the same period.
“The only crimes to show decreases were murder (-3.2%) and rape (-11.5%), crimes for which judges could still set bail,” the report reads.
“I never thought that I would retire from the New York City Police Department, but I left because I believed that the people of New York State deserve better. They deserve people who are listening to them,” she said.
Setting her sights on the incumbent Democrats, Esposito said, “Our elected officials stopped protecting their people; and this is not the traditional Democratic Party. This is a one party super majority rule that is not your traditional Democrat. It is a far-left progressive variant of Democrat that’s stopped listening to their people.”
Esposito is squaring off against incumbent Antonio Delgado, a Democrat and member of the Working Families Party who, just this year, was appointed to the position by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul following years of turmoil concerning the position.
Following the resignation of former Governor Andrew Cuomo in August, 2021, Hochul filled the role with State Senator Brian Benjamin. Benjamin later resigned due to federal corruption charges prompting Hochul to appoint Delgado to fill the vacancy. Delgado was sworn in on May 25, 2022.
“We want our public safety back, we want to be in charge of what’s best for our children and our families and schooling. We want to be able to put food on our table and be able to thrive in our small businesses and we want common sense leadership back,” Esposito told the packed room.
Violent crime in New York State is surging, particularly against the state’s Asian community.
“Hate crimes in this city, just this city, just this year alone, are up over 450,” Esposito said.
According to NYPD statistics, there were 131 hate crimes, specifically targeting Asian New Yorkers, in 2021 compared to just 20 in 2020 and a single incident in 2019. The trend has continued into this year with ten hate crimes against Asians documented in January and February compared to just four in the same period last year.
However, the actual number of Asian hate crimes may be far higher. According to Politico, these alarming statistics “do not capture the true scope of the violence” and that a “long string of unprovoked attacks by strangers” were not classified as biased crimes.
“Even some of the most high-profile assaults and killings, such as the death of the woman shoved in front of a train, have not been designated as acts of hate,” Politico reported.
“On November 8th, Lee Zeldin for Governor, Alison Esposito for Lt. Governor, Vito Labella for Senate, Paul Rodriguez for comptroller, Michael Henry for Attorney General; these are the candidates that will be fighting for you. For each and every one of you and your families,” Esposito said.
