Zeldin Pledges To Declare Statewide Crime Emergency, Suspend Cashless Bail Laws

Republican New York gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin aims to declare a crime emergency for the state and suspend cashless bail laws upon taking office, he said Sunday.

“I’m going to suspend New York’s cashless bail laws and some other pro-criminal laws that have been passed, force the legislature to come to the table to negotiate an improvement, because we have to take back our streets,” Zeldin told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo. “We need law-abiding New Yorkers back in control of New York streets instead of criminals, and there are people in charge right now, from Kathy Hochul to the Democrats controlling the state legislature, who feel like they haven’t passed enough pro-criminal laws.”

Zeldin seeks to take as much action as possible in his first 100 minutes as governor, he declared. He pointed to his recent announcement that he would declare “a crime emergency.”

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New York‘s state Legislature passed a law in April 2019 that banned setting bail for most misdemeanor and non-violent felony charges. Lawmakers have since restored bail possibilities for some offenses, Politico reported.

Police-reported murders and aggravated assaults in New York rose about 4.4% and 9.5% respectively between 2020 and 2021, according to data collected by the State Division of Criminal Justice Services.

Zeldin claimed he would start his term by removing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg from office “for his refusal to enforce the law.” Bragg announced in January that his office would not pursue prison sentences for many offenses including resisting arrest.

Two people were shot on the afternoon of Oct. 9 outside Zeldin’s home in Long Island while his teenage daughters were inside. He said the next day that many families were “dealing with this reality of rising crime in New York.”

A man tried to stab Zeldin at a July campaign rally, where he spoke about bail reform.

Hochul’s campaign did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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