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Democratic mayoral nominee Eric Adams on Wednesday fired back at left-wing activist Touré for scoffing at his law enforcement background — and ripped Gov. Andrew Cuomo for belatedly announcing a bland blueprint aimed at stopping shootings.
“My first question is, what took so long? And why has it taken us so long, watching these babies die, year after year after year?” Adams said on CBS-2 News of the embattled third-term governor’s newly released gun violence prevention plan.
“No one seems to care.”
On Tuesday, Cuomo unveiled a seven-point plan that included addressing gun violence like an “emergency public health issue” and using “data and science” to target shooting “hotspots.”
In response, a Cuomo rep blamed the increase in shootings on Mayor Bill de Blasio not effectively fighting crime.
“Policing is a local government issue managed by the mayor, and Mr. Adams is right that it has taken too long to step up and take charge on the gun violence issue,” said Cuomo advisor Rich Azzopardi.
“The governor is stepping in because too little has been done by the local leadership. The governor mandated all local governments reform their police systems last year, and some made more progress than others.”
On Tuesday, a mayoral spokesman snarked that it is “encouraging to see today’s plan reflects what is in Safe Summer NYC, the comprehensive plan to fight back gun violence in New York City.”
“Unfortunately, the governor did not mention state bills that support state parolees, who are disproportionately involved in New York City shootings,” spokesman Bill Neidhardt, added.
“The governor can and should take quick action to address that specific issue.”
Meanwhile, the ex-cop blasted former MSNBC host Touré, a left-wing podcast host with a large following, who claimed on Twitter that Adams wouldn’t live up to his promises to bring change to the city’s police department.
“I say that it’s time for us to stop believing that we should have the right tweets — we should have the right safe streets,” said Adams on CNN, in a signature one-liner.
In addition, he made the case for the importance of police patrolling the five boroughs.
“I say that when [Touré] gets on the subway, he does not want to be pushed to the subway tracks, and he doesn’t want to be slashed. He does not want his son to be like young 10-year-old Justin, who was shot and killed in Rockaway by gun violence,” Adams said, referring to Justin Wallace, who on June 5 was shot dead in Queens.
“I say to him and others that if black lives really matter, then it means that we won’t have senseless gang violence in New York, Chicago, Atlanta.”
Adams’ response came after Touré said the former NYPD captain would not bring the “real police reform” the city needs.
“If you marched in NYC last year to protest police violence and this year voted for Eric Adams to be Mayor, I don’t understand you,” Touré said on Twitter, after the bumbling Board of Elections released preliminary tabulations with absentee ballots factored in that showed Adams as the winner in the Democratic primary. “Cops cannot get us to the real police reform we need.”
The retired NYPD captain centered his mayoral campaign on public safety, and spoke Wednesday morning in a series of TV appearances about his focus on preventing shootings.
“We are not going to have a city with violence,” he said, promising to crack down on violent gang members.
The former state senator vowed that New York City would show other municipalities how it’s done.
“I’m going to unify our party here in the city, and we’re going to show this entire country how to run cities in a correct way,” Adams said on NY1.
“I know how we can turn around not only New York, but America,” he said on “CBS This Morning.”
“New York is going to show America how to run cities,” he added. “We’re in a terrible place, and we can turn this country and city around.”
Additional reporting by Bernadette Hogan
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