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Fear of “violent crime” in the city almost made the mother of one freshman Democratic City Councilmember skip her son’s inauguration ceremony in Manhattan.
Erik Bottcher (D-Manhattan) said his mom, who lives in his upstate hometown of Wilmington, worried about traveling to the Big Apple for his official swearing-in ceremony on Saturday, according to The Village Sun.
“She said, ‘Erik, am I gonna get hit?’” the pol described during a Greenwich Village Chelsea Chamber of Commerce town hall last week.
“That just makes me want to cry,” lamented Bottcher, whose district covers Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen.
His district also contains Times Square, where straphanger Michelle Go was killed.
The 40-year-old woman was shoved onto the subway tracks by a mentally ill man, who is also homeless, on Jan. 15.
“You don’t have to look far on our streets to see people with untreated mental illness,” said Bottcher, who sits on the council’s mental health committee.
Despite her concerns, Bottcher told The Post on Friday his mom bravely made the trip to the city. Both parents arrived safely in the afternoon.
“We picked up tickets to a Broadway show,” he said, “but it’s true that many people do not feel safe, and that’s a huge problem.”
“As I’ve been saying for a long time, we have failed badly on the issue of mental health and its effects on public safety, and we are now seeing the consequences of that failure. I’m hopeful that with this new administration, we can break the status quo and make things better.”
Bottcher’s mom isn’t alone in her apprehension – a poll released in February said 74 percent of New York City voters think crime is a serious problem.
Last month, the city saw a 20 percent increase in major crimes – including murders, robberies and felony assaults – compared to the same time last year, according to new NYPD data.
Staten Island GOP Councilman Joe Borelli told The Post Bottcher’s mom is always welcome to stay with him.
“Eric Bottcher’s mother is welcome to stay with me in my house, in the city’s safest neighborhood in the 123 precinct where we have miles of woods nearby,” he said.
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