Former NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly doesn’t buy the “happy talk” about New York City’s post-pandemic future.
Speaking Sunday at the WABC radio’s “The Cats” roundtable, the two-time former NYPD chief said the city’s recovery is still in progress.
“You see all these small shops and businesses that are still closed. Many of them you know will never reopen. I hope New York returns and returns soon, “Kelly told host John Catsimatidis.
Kelly pointed to subway security as a deterrent to getting the city moving again. According to NYPD and MTA data, the subway recorded 2.19 crimes per million riders in August, significantly more than the crime rate of 1.47 per million riders throughout 2019.
“People are still very worried about going to the subway. Bad things can happen to you on the subway, ”Kelly said. “So what are they [people] doing? They stay on the ground. They take cars if they can. And they work from home ”.
He also asked the next mayor to “create a body of professionals” to help the city’s homeless population.
“Most have mental problems. They have to be tackled head-on, “Kelly said of the tramps.” I think you do it with more professional staff who can talk to them, interview them and refer them. [to treatment] and horse. “
Kelly, who served as NYPD commissioner under Mayor David Dinkins from 1992 to 1994 and Mayor Michael Bloomberg from 2002 to 2013, also recalled watching the Twin Towers come down from their office at Bear Sterns in Midtown. on September 11th.
He lamented the withdrawal of President Biden from Afghanistan, who said he believed it had made Americans less secure.
“We could have had a small box there and provide some stability to this country. Now we don’t know. We’re rolling the dice,” Kelly said. “We have become one more target as a result of radical terrorists and Islamists taking Afghanistan.”