OBEY OMNY

083Embrace it’s warm, benevolent and invasive money usurping glow

It’s been a wild year so far for the worst fucking transit system in the universe. The MTA had to deal with two straight Monday of signal and switch breakdowns on two consecutive Mondays in January. The “sudden” resignation of Andy Byford. A fleet of  new cars breaking down that serviced two four borough train lines and another three borough one. The return of graffiti artists bombing entire trains as well as rise of felony crime on them and at the stations including a continuing rash of suicides. A massive (but ill-advised) social justice protest demanding abolishing the fare and the hiring and deployment of 500 cops to patrol the subway for farebeating, resulting in scattershot vandalism. A transit strike barely averted at the last minute. And to top it off, Andy Byford’s farewell exiting the MTA at 2 Broadway in Downtown Manhattan to a waiting and adoring crowd cheering him out, probably the first and definitely the last time you will see or hear about a sendoff of a government appointee like that.

Even though those subjects demand a thorough (de)constructive analysis peppered with vitriol and profanities, I prefer to focus on and review what I believe is the most costly, picayune and offensive thing the MTA is putting a big part of their efforts on now and that’s the induced implementation of the OMNY cashless tap fare system and the piss poor promotion of it.

Let’s start right off the bat with this fucking sight,

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The MTA decided to splash these OMNY posters on all the ad space on the cars, which has been a common sight in the past decade as they have done on stations and even on the exterior of the cars too.

Now what immediately comes to mind is the color choice of this, making it entirely black. When Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap remarked about the band’s manager album art decision about it being “none more black“, with this the MTA’s marketing contractors 38 years later said “hold my beer”. It’s also easy to see that they chose to go with black to prevent counterpoint Sharpie marker graffiti (although they have overlooked scratchitti and even label stickers)

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But what really stands out is the messaging. It’s very authoritative as much as it is misinformed, more propaganda than helpful PSA. Because while you can use your phone now to pay, the metrocard is still the preferred method of paying the fare and will still be available to commuters until it’s terminated in 2013. That’s 3 years, which is still a long time from now.

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But the ads continue to seduce and also order the customer/commuter into using the new and preferred method for entering the turnstiles.

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Probably sensing the utter lack of emotion and bleakness conveyed in those two ads, the MTA’s OMNY optics team made certain to get cheeky and cute with the rest of them. Even though they unwittingly encourage anti-social behavior and enable the continuing mental illness pandemic of cellphone addiction and the lousy culture of viral trending.

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By chance you don’t get a seat, you get to view the overhead ads which seem inspired by Egyptian heiroglyphics featuring the evolution of the payment object and method.

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Although instructive, there is still a palpable sense of subliminal and needy needling in influencing the commuter to change their payment routine.

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These are just the taxpayer funded ads trying to goad commuters into allegiance to OMNY pay. One of the too-big-to-fail banks, whom obviously have a big stake in the tapping fare game, are splashing related ads on stations all over the city. While more brighter and friendlier, it still is pushing the same messaging with equal desperation even if the promotion is contributing essential funding to the subway.

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What’s problematic about all this expenditure to influence people into embracing what these ads proclaim about OMNY’s simple and easy system is a majority of commuters are not buying it and are still easily swiping to get on the train.

The MTA and Chase underestimated commuters since the majority of NYC citizens are creatures of habit. But trust might also play a factor too, especially since some of these scanners usurped money from commuters phones as they walked through the turnstiles already paying their fare the (majority used) current way. But maybe the MTA was not being that honest about their data before they went out and spent millions installing these OMNY scanners all over Manhattan and stations in affluent areas in Queens and Brooklyn (and maybe in some stations in the rapid luxury development areas in the Bronx). Another thing they didn’t factor is that a lot of people still don’t like to be told what to do, especially through subliminal and insidious tactics no matter how helpful they appear.

But it seems that with all those factors, the MTA still spent a significant amount of time getting this fare system and advertising campaign implemented. Although it’s early, the efforts of Cuomo’s MTA with Jamie Dimon’s Chase and other big banks pushing OMNY have clearly failed; naturally because they got this system out too early. Which is another fucking shame as the subway is still in dire straits, essential transit workers are about to be terminated  and the bus routes are being diced up in austerity measures to come up with funding the MTA’s 51.5 billion dollar capital plan.  And it’s still worrisome what’s going to happen after the completion of the Canarsie Tunnel and return of full service of the L train and whatever chaos and cataclysms are going to arise with future system upgrades in the next three years. It’s way too late to even ask why couldn’t they just finish all the upgrades and renovations in the subway capital plan in 2024 (pending) and then implement OMNY in all of the stations.

The irony of it all is that the MTA prioritize the convenience of how commuters can pay for mass transit over the convenience entitled to them expecting efficency and quality and safe commutes. Plus the fact that the MTA, the banks and these marketing and advertising firms want you dependent on your cellphones at all times for some (obvious) reason.

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Here’s hoping some of that MTA capital plan money doesn’t go into buying human scale pea pods.

Must. Use. OMNY.

Never. Swipe. Again.

Tap. Is. Safe.

Tap. Is. Easy.

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Impunity Music Awards: The Best Albums Of 2019, 30 Years Ago

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Up and down: Ice-T, Lou Reed, Beastie Boys, Neil Young, The Ghetto Boys and Faith No More

 

Because of pressing matters going on NYC with crime and local and national politics getting worse, the Impunity City best music released three decades ago since 2019 is late again. Also, the Grammy Awards came earlier this year and the big winner was this teenage girl named Billie who swept all Album, Song and Record of the year along with best new artist. I haven’t heard her music, or maybe I have since supermarkets, chain stores and recent TV shows and commercials feature today’s blandly dull music. My assumption about the young lady’s tunes might have validity because the last “musical” “artist” that swept the Grammies like this was the horrendous commercial MOR soft rock hack Christopher Cross in 1981 and his music has not even endured on the multiple lite music stations in New York. I’m sure Bill will come up with as good a follow up as Chris Cross.

Anyway, this is the music that in my not so humble opinion ruled and still kicks the living shit out of the shitty sense depriving music of today. And to start this list, it’s strictly rap. Because as one of the talents on here uttered, hip hop ruled in 89:

Beastie Boys, Paul’s Boutique

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King Ad Rock, MCA, and Mike D were going through some shit after their raucous classic Licensed to Ill got released, going on a massive tour with their Queens allies Run DMC and LL Cool J, they dumped their manager Russell Simmons, parted with producer Rick Rubin, left Columbia distributed Def Jam records and took their gear to sunny California and signed with Capitol Records, hooked up with Tone Loc’s producers the Dust Brothers and got to work on their highly anticipated follow up.

And what manifested was one of the greatest LP’s ever created. Or with the wicked amount of samples, kinetic beats and abstract and pop culture heavy lyrics and rhymes maybe it’s fit to call it curated.  After the smooth creepy intro for all the girls the drum roll crashes into “Shake Your Rump”, introducing without question the Beastie New Edition abandoning the sound and style of their first album that was limited to a few break beats and metal lick samples but still keeping up the raunchy and sophomoric subject matter but with a nastier twist with new takes and metaphors for them. Then the song ends abruptly and slides into the low down blues homage to a charismatic bum named “Johnny Ryall” and is followed by the homage to scurrilous vigilante vandalism (and the Beatles sans John)”Eggman” which wildly samples Superfly and Psycho. Then it’s the slow, sleazy outlaw funk of “High Plains Drifter” that rides steady on an Eagles Loop about gambling on horses. The “Sounds Of Science” continues the Beasties Beatles muse by rhymin while stealing loops from Sgt. Peppers and Abbey Road. The first side closes with the Funkadelic sounding “3 minute rule” continues the braggadocio with live playing along with the stellar scratching by DJ Hurricane and the first single, the old school hip hop and Jerry Lewis inspired gigolo anthem “Hey Ladies”

Then you flip the cassette, press play and are greeted with a hillbilly romp which gets abruptly cut down for the live playing molten Sabbath style ode to ultraviolence “Looking Down the Barrel of A Gun”. The felonious “Car Thief” and the their take on the fucked up state of society of that time “What Goes Around” continues the Beasties current obsession with glorious 70’s funk and R&B.

Then the album gets real gone with the last two tracks beginning with “Shadarach” as the Beasties get biblical by comparing themselves with the title character plus fellow prophets Meshach and Abegnego over a Sly Stone background vocal riff as well as one of his most reliable drumbreaks. Then the pinnacle and most ambitious track and hip hop song of all time comes on “B-Boy Bouillebaise”. Continuing drawing inspiration from the Fab Four (which was convenient being their label mates now) the fab four minus one styles the song after the song suite that codas side 2 of Abbey Road and it’s fucking mint, starting with 59 Chrystie St, aggressively watching ladies on the street go by followed by the human beat box saliva spreading “mike on the mic”, then proceeds to two standout songs “Stop That Train” and the MCA solo track “Year And A day”, probably the best MC and DJ performance on the album as Yauch goes off on a stream of consciousness freestyle as Hurricane scratches the hell out of the Isley Brothers “That Lady” on the 1 and 2’s. That fucking track is one of those songs that you wish would go on for another 7 minutes (surprised it was never made into a 12″) but it gets cut down and seamlessly seques into “Hello Brooklyn” about more Beastie wilding on a rubbery electro beat. Then it goes into the Nola funk of “Dropping names” and “Lay it on me” then going into the Mike D’s solo cut “Mike on the mic” and after a cameo by WOR weatherman (and inspiration for Ad-Rocks hello shoutout) it concludes with the call and response AWOL.

Although not the greatest hip hop album ever (it’s still belongs to Public Enemy), this landmark album belongs to pantheon of other rock and roll landmark recordings. With themes and styles of the Beatles axis of classics Sgt Peppers, White Album and Abbey Road. The genius song craft and pristine production of the Beach Boys Pet Sounds. The sequencing and collaging of effects of the songs like Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of the Moon and the Paul’s Boutique’s surreal still life photography and mystique layout similar to Led Zeppelin’s Zoso. And with the initial terrible sales of the album after it’s release, it can also be compared to Captain Beefheart’s Trout Mask Replica, which was another chaotic masterpiece full of wonderfully weird songs that was initially blown off but grew popular and sold more records as the years went by.

Most of all, Paul’s Boutique was the album that not only brought progress to hip hop but was responsible for bringing all genres of music and diverse cultures together. This album was lollapalooza before there was a concert festival for it.

The really great thing about this album is that even though the Beasties went to the west coast to record this infinite classic, it’s still 100 New York. It shows that besides consuming lot of beer, mushrooms and weed, you can still make inspired music by just  being homesick.

Ice T, The Iceberg: Freedom Of Speech…Just Watch What You Say

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Introduced with a PSA by the Dead Kennedy’s lead singer Jello Biafra with a loop of Black Sabbath’s first song blaring in the background titled “Shut up Be Happy” a take on one of the biggest hits of all time and the worst song that came out that year, Los Angeles citizen and vulgarian gangster MC Ice T unleashed this motherfucking hip hop manifesto on the nation. Fueled by rising crime, gang related and territorial violence, rampant drug abuse, and police brutality as well as brazenly lame attempts at oppressing musical expression by the likes of the PMRC and the FBI, Ice-T wrote his most fearsome and offensive songs yet. The result was this concept like album that seamlessly weaved all these issues.

“The Iceberg” rolls like a blaxplotation flick theme as Ice talks shit like Dolemite, then takes a 180 degree turn with the kinetic single “Lethal Weapon” which about killing your rivals by being informed than with tech 9. Then it’s followed by the funky classic karma stories of “You Played Yourself” and the funky but grim gangbanger revenge tale “Peel Their Caps Back”. Ice-T then puts out his first straight forward metal song with his guitar compadre Ernie C on the humorous “That Girl Tried to Kill me”.

After the rollicking “Hit the deck” Ice-T drops science about virtue signalers on “This Ones For Me”. After the fugitive on the run “The Hunted Child” and nine minute posse cut “What You Wanna Do” (featuring Everlast) the penultimate second title track “Freedom Of Speech”, although dated because of the targets of the PMRC and other oppressors of free expression at the time, Ice’s furious lyricism and the relentless music still maintains the songs relevance and universalism, especially when it closes with Jello Biafra returning to give an ominous warning of the supposed harmlessness of labeling and rating music.

The hilarious thing about all this that after the PMRC got what they wanted the music industry slapped all those Parental Advisory stickers on LP’s, tapes and CD’s, the targeted genres of hip hop and heavy metal got more explicit and vulgar. And on this masterpiece, Ice was obviously glad to oblige those assholes.

De La Soul, 3 Feet High And Rising

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As the Golden Age of Rap was in it’s nascent stage, the majority of hip hop artists were rapping about politics, ultraviolence and about how bad each and every one of them were. Then three kids from of all places Amityville, Long Island called De La Soul got signed to Tommy Boy and put out this sensational aberration. With a ridiculous looking album cover that looks straight out of nursery school, the music and rhyme styles contained were the most innovative of that year. Produced by Stetsasonic’s DJ Prince Paul, MCs Trugoy the Dove and Posdnous and DJ Mase assembled 24 tracks of quirky funky tracks and silly ass comedy skits that was devoid of filler.

Even though you have to wait 2 minutes to get to the first song it doesn’t disappoint. Taking a damaged Sesame Street record and looping the drum beat and mixing it high, De La goes off the wall with schoolhouse rock revamp “The Magic Number”, the follow up “Change in Speak”. “Jenifa taught me” is a sex song that gets nasty as 2 live crew but with very clever metaphors and colliquialisms, almost like Dr. Seuss. Then De La Soul hit hits the streets and raps ’bout the blight, desperation and depression in “Ghetto Thang” and then goes into the lovey dovey track “Eye Know” featuring Steely Dan and Otis Redding hooks then goes into a couple of goofy tracks before heading into the first single ripping on biting rappers as gophers on “Potholes In My Lawn” (and yes that is a hook from the Little Rascals theme).

Side 2 kicks off with the anti-drug dealing and using PSA track “Say No Go” followed by the shameless self promoting “Plug Tunin”. After another nasty song of De La and some guests in the studio faking orgasms, it’s followed by the sweet posse cut “Buddy” with the Native Tongues crew of the Jungle Brothers and the debut of Q-Tip on the second vagina euphimism of the album (the other being Jenny from earlier, both takes on the hip hop penis names of Jimmy and Jimbrowski). After a Sly Stone sampled Native Tongue roll call the Funkadelic Knee Deep drum break kicks into the immortal individuality anthem “Me, Myself and I”. Then the album closes out with the hardcore “L.I.F.E.” and the dippy hippy “D.A.I.S.Y. Age”.

Like Public Enemy’s Nation of Millions, this hip hop landmark also changed hip hop sonically too with its wild and creative (curated) usage of samples and beats. It didn’t even take long because the Beasties Pauls Boutique would use this same style on their release just six months later.

Ghetto Boys, Grip It On That Other Level

What’s great about America, at least what we’re told, is that anyone can become successful through hard work and determination but mostly you just have to be at the right place at the right time with the right message or medium. That’s where the Ghetto Boys from Houston and their trailblazing second album comes in.

Willie D, Bushwick Bill, DJ Ready Red and the incomparable MC Scarface quietly dropped the rawest and hardest rap album of the year. Even though they were immediately lumped in the gangsta rap genre, the Ghetto Boys lyrics delved a lot deeper into the psychosis of their subjects and were graphic in their depictions. The intro take no prisoners cut and first single “Do it like a G.O.” rides on the “pusherman” riff as they rail not against sucker m.c’s but sucker radio programmers. Then comes “Gangsta of Love” as the Boys brag about sexual conquests and prowess while Ready Red cuts and deconstructs Steve Miller’s “The Joker” for the chorus and the hooks.

After calling out phonies on “Talkin loud, saying nothing” they are followed by the ass kicking proclamations of Willie D’s “Read These Nikes” and Bushwick Bill’s inspiring self-defense anthem “Size Ain’t Shit” which features the timeless idiom “Play pussy get fucked” and Ready Red freaking the shit out the Odd Couple Theme.

Following the nihilism of “Seek And Destroy”, addressing persecution and compromising on “No Sell Out”, another cynical take on the ladies “Let a ho be a ho”, Scarface lets loose with his gangsta storytelling on his namesake song while riding on the Eric B Paid in Full beat and the follow up “Life In The Fast Lane”. As with most classic albums they leave the best songs for last, as Scarface and Willie D ruthlessly scaremonger their listeners with the serial killing themes of “Trigga Happy Nigga” and the maniacal sociopathy of “Mind Of A Lunatic”.

Jungle Brothers, Done By The Forces Of Nature

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The Jungle Brothers followed up their stellar debut “Straight out the Jungle” with this 60 minute masterpiece about the urban jungle and party utopia of NYC. Of all the hip hop albums, this one stood out as the music on this was very club-oriented and the majority of the lyrics were more dedicated to women and getting down than M.C. braggadocio.

The first single “Beyond This World” rides on a relentless bass groove guaranteed to make anyone move as the lyrics grimly focus on the realities of their surroundings in the urban jungle. “Feeling Alright” has the JB’s walking on the poor city streets on a pleasant day bereft of the usual blights as the followup “Sunshine” continues that mood.

Then it’s the should have been a huger hit “What U Waitin’ 4” which was clearly made for mass consumption and soul train lines as well as the Zapp-fueled follow up “U Make Me Sweat”. The album takes a break from the housin’ as the JB’s encourage self-education with “Acknowledge Your Own History”. And the side closes out with a killer virtuoso cut “Good News Comin'” by DJ Sammy B.

Side 2  opens with the jazzy and spacey title track and the tribal bangers “Beads On A String”, “Tribe Vibes” and “J Beez Coming through”. Then the J Beez comes up with their universal tribute to the ladies with “Black Woman” and ends with the hope for the future anthem “Dayz To Come, a Native Tongues posse cut follow up to De La Soul’s Buddy “Doin Our Own Dang” and finishes it off with a street corner blues ditty “Kool According to A Jungle Brother”.

This album did not really do that well even though it came out at the right place at the right time and is one of the greatest hip hop albums of Rap’s golden age even with a major label distribution and budget by the W.Beez (Warner Brothers Records). If this came out 15 years later it would give Outkast competition. The J.Beez were truly ahead of their time.

Boogie Down Productions, Ghetto Music: The Blueprint Of Hip Hop

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While a lot of rap artists were loading tracks with samples with excellent results, Boogie Down Productions went back to basics with this phenomenal album (remember when basic wasn’t a lame slur?) with a few choice breaks and lifted hooks and a live band as Blastmaster KRS-ONE goes beyond the Bronx and tackles universal themes based on acquired knowledge he obtained by studying and dwelling in local libraries when he was a homeless teenager.

Following the War-inspired boast track “The Style You Haven’t Done Yet”, on “Why Is That?” KRS delegitimatizes the perpetual myth of Jesus Christ as a white man as depicted in churches and government institutions. On the co-title track “The Blueprint” he schools other rappers on hip hop’s musical integrity with the same fervor he dissed the Juice Crew on Criminal Minded.

Then BDP includes his excellent track “Jack Of Spades” from “I’m Gonna Get You Sucka” and it doesn’t seem out of place at all like most previously released inclusions. “Who Protects Us From You” is a great treatise on aggressive arbitrary policing which the album cover brilliantly conveys.

“You Must Learn” continues KRS-one’s self-proclaimed MC role as “The Teacher” by giving a Black History lesson condensed in three and half minutes just like Stevie Wonder did on his classic “Black Man” (which was five minutes longer). “Jah Rulez” “Hip Hop Rules” “Bo Bo Bo” and “Gimme Dat” continue BDP’s devotion to reggae music which is more pronounced than any other hip hop group in that era. And the album closes with the brilliant anthem “World Peace” which doesn’t display naievte at all, as KRS proclaims that “you got to just take it”.

Queen Latifah, All Hail The Queen

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Even though pioneering female MC’s like MC Lyte and Roxanne Shante were around making great singles, they fell just a bit short making a great and cohesive album. Then a 19-year-old woman from New Jersey dropped this bomb on the masses. With beats and sounds constructed by the brilliant producer and Flavor Unit co-leader 45 King and her fellow Tommy Boy labelmates, Queen Latifah’s lyricism and wild rhyming styling made All Hail The Queen established it as a landmark for women rappers.

On the opener “Dance for Me” she excellently exudes her command and her MC entitlement status immediately and keeps up the club groove on the followup single “Come Into My House”. “Mama gave birth to the Soul Children” is great collaboration with label mates and Native Tongue allies De La Soul. “Latifah’s Law” and “Wrath of My Madness” shows the Queen can rock a gangsta flow like her XY competitors.

Then comes “Ladies First, one of the best songs of 1989 and probably the greatest female empowerment anthem ever as Latifah and Monie Love brag and boast while throwing fire on male dominance perceptions, the Queen continues relentlessly and savagely on that concept on the accusatory “The Evil That Men Do” after the back to back rawness of “Queen and King Creation” and the wicked “Queen of Royal Badness” then the album comes to a close with “Princess of the Posse” and the smooth “Inside Out” as Latifah showcases her excellent singing skills.

Queen Latifah would make a few more albums later on but they didn’t come close to it, probably because she was pursuing an acting career which continues to this day. Which is too bad, since because of her success in T.V. and film, her groundbreaking album has been virtually forgotten even though it as significant as Aretha Franklin’s “I’ve never loved a man the way that I loved you” breakthrough album.

3rd Bass The Cactus Album

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When this album came out on Def Jam it was almost a curiosity. They already were when their first single and video debuted on Video Music Box (greatest music video show ever). It was easy to cynically define this. The Beastie Boys left Def Jam, so the label had to find a new white rap group. But with the Golden Age of Rap standard at the time, they have to lyrically and musically gifted. MC Serch from Far Rockaway and Prime Minster Pete Nice from Brooklyn had absolutely no problem filling that bill.

3rd Bass first album like De La Souls 3 feet high (also produced by Prince Paul) seems to be a concept album, presuming the Cactus is like the Holy Grail or Burning Bush of hip hop, silly as it sounds. What’s not silly is how perfect and combative this album is. “Sons Of 3rd Bass” is a direct unprovoked dis of the Beastie Boys, as much you want to disagree with it it’s still a funny song. Then comes the “Gasface”, which is an unprovoked yet justified dis song on the punks behind power structures and establishment narratives.

Following five seamless tracks of super rhyme skills and dope beats provided by DJ Richie Rich, Serch and Pete tell their life stories  about how their love for rap on “Product of the Environment” followed by their jazzy off-kilter explanation of the meaning behind “The Cactus” (which disses nascent superstar rapper MC Hammer for the second time on the LP). After a ludicrous homage to Tom Waits comes a sincere love ditty to the two boroughs they hail from  “Brooklyn-Queens” even though it’s mostly about the predominant subject of gold-digging women and closes with the first single “Steppin’ To The A.M.. Another great release from the legendary Def Jam label.

(There were so many outstanding hip hop albums that came out that year it was hard to leave them out, so consolation prizes go to Kool G Rap and DJ Polo, Schoolly D,The D.O.C., Nice And Smooth, Big Daddy Kane and Roxanne Shante)

Three legendary and reliable rock and roll singer songwriters made their greatest albums after about almost a decade of creative futility.

Neil Young, Freedom

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After releasing Rust Never Sleeps in 1979, Neil Young was floundering aimlessly in the 80’s after signing to David Geffen’s label (with the exception of the underrated Trans LP) jumping from genre to genre and making forgettable music. Then he went back to his old trusty label, did one more genre jump and then reverted back to form with the second best album he ever recorded. He just needed the creative freedom to do it, which may have been partly the inspiration for the title here.

But this album is not about Neil’s liberation from a shitty record deal, it’s about America and how the nation was still struggling after a decade of Reaganomics and the first years of Bush as depicted in the opener “Rockin’ in the Free World” which was reminiscent of “Hey Hey My My” off Rust but about homeless crises and economic disparities and with an optimistic/sarcastic jingoist chorus. “Crime in the City” continues the themes of the “Rockin..:” and focuses again on urban decay from the perspective of the cop and the criminal. “Don’t Cry”  is a break up song and also the first song on the album that debuts Neil’s embrace of white noise style utilized by Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr, it sort of depicts that the separation wasn’t that amicable. “Eldorado” utilizes the same racket, disrupting the mood of the flamenco ballad. “Hangin’ on a Limb”, “The Ways of Love” and “Someday” are more additions to Young’s pantheon of classic ballads.

Then the album gets darker starting with the remake of the Drifters “On Broadway” as Neil extends the song and turns it up to 11 when he gets to the line “plays this here guitar” and turns the lilting song about strolling on the street into a heavy metal apocalypse of despair as Young codas the song with a man begging for crack. “Wrecking Ball” is another exemplary ballad like the previous one as the follow up “No More” is also another great song tackling insatiable drug addiction leading up to the metallic reprise of “Rockin’ In The Free World” with an extra verse maligning inequitable budgetary spending towards the military industrial complex over the needy and the environment and capped it off with his most scorching solo since Hey Hey (Into the Black) from a decade earlier on Rust Never Sleeps.

No one in rock music got more political and passionate than Neil Young did on this classic.

But one other rock and roll living legend did:

Lou Reed, New York

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In the 80’s, Lou Reed was still making significant music (even a classic like The Blue Mask) even though he wasn’t getting much attention until he wrote some commercial songs that were sorta hits, he also sold out to the man by appearing in a motorcycle commercial. Then when the year 89 was just a baby, Lou Reed came out with this vicious, stripped down one hour hate/love letter to his hometown and the greatest but not at all safest city in the world, New York, Reed’s greatest album of his solo career. New York was like a collection of short stories and metro news articles set to raw rock and roll.

Starting with “Romeo Had Juliette”, Lou reduces Shakespeare’s fable to a nasty lay between the unrequited lovers and a naked city gang war playing outside then the bleakness continues nicely to the sorrowful and gorgeous ballad on AIDS victims missing from the “Halloween Parade. The beautiful “Dirty Blvd”(a surprise hit single) documents the tale of two cities and graphic descriptions of the city’s denizens and sights, showing that the wild side he once sang about as got worse and is more hard to escape from. “Endless Cycle” stresses the generational repetition of domestic and drug abuse, and “There Is No Time” lists everything citizens and officials waste their time on while nothing progresses. On “The Last Great American Whale”, the subject mammal is addressed mostly as a symbol for humanity’s ails and ignorance.

Side 2 delves into city survival themes on “Busload of Faith” is a rollicking anthem of self-perseverance and maintaining hope in the worst conditions and elements. “Sick of You” is a hysterical breakup song that blames every horrible current event on his significant other. The inspiring and relentless “Hold On” documents the dystopian society that evolved from the bias crimes, street riots and daily violence of the past 3 years. “Good Evening Mr Waldheim” calls out Jesse Jackson’s and Pope John Paul II’s hypocrisies than the at the time Austrian President and exposed former Nazi. “Xmas In February” gives a shout out to Vets destroyed by the Vietnam War, which around that year made up a lot of NYC’s homeless population. “Strawman” is a rousing anthem trashing the one percent and their worthless contributions to culture and society, false prophets and grand expensive events leading to inevitable disaster. And the closing “Dime Store Mystery” he reunites with his Velvet Underground bandmates John Cale and Moe Tucker on the albums only avant garde track about a street killing.

New York was a collection of short stories, metro news articles and police blotter set to two guitars, bass and drums. There hasn’t been anything in 30 years that has come close to it and going by the times in 2020, this album is purely due for a sequel. Too bad it will never happen because Lou’s been dead for 6 years and the majority of New Yorkers are transients and tourists.

Tom Petty, Full Moon Fever

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Tom Petty decided to stable the Heartbreakers (except for his trusty lead guitar player Mike Campbell) and hooks up with his fellow Wiburys for his official solo debut Full Moon Fever and it became his second biggest hit album and best album of his two decade career.

The album timely summer release contained excellent songwriting and exuded cool vibes on the laid back transcendance of “Free Fallin'”, the stoic defiance of “I Won’t Back Down” and the back to back polar relationship songs of devotion and distance in “Love is a long road” and the haunting “Face in the Crowd”.

Then comes the unforgettable undeniable starter riff of “Running Down a Dream”, a four and half minute blazer track about driving and ambition and the greatest top down cruising song since Golden Earring’s “Radar Love” . Following the great remake side 2 opener of a Byrds classic, Petty writes a rocking ode to a wild impulsive babe on “Yer So Bad” and segues into the needy yet bittersweet “Depending On You”. The next two songs also take on similar relationship themes on “The Apartment Song” and “Alright for now”.Then the concise perfect album closes with a Wilburys’ styled rocker “A Mind With A Heart of it’s Own and closes with the status seeking and materialism trashing of “Zombie Zoo”.

Like Paul’s Boutique, this album also embraces the sun and expansive sights of Cali while staying grounded to the artist’s stylistic and hometown roots and is bolstered by lush production this time with co-producer ELO mastermind Jeff Lynne. Tom Petty would continue to make classic songs but arguably couldn’t come close to this again.

Aerosmith, Pump

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Aerosmith’s comeback following their collaboration with Run DMC and the multiplatinum success of their 1987 album Permanent Vacation is really one of rock and roll history’s greatest stories and it also established the connection of rock and rap as allies in musical rebellion. But like the band once sang on an overlooked great album leading to their revival, let the music do the talkin’; and did they ever on the their monster album Pump, their hardest and best album since their magnum opus 76 LP Rocks.

Starting with “Young Lust”, Boston’s furious five bust out the gate and brings down the garage with a relentlessness that the Replacements abandoned on their own 89 release that came out months earlier which segues into the honky metal tonkin’ song about high maintenance women on “F.I.N.E” . The band then channels both Guns’N Roses and the Beatles on their classic song about public fornication and cunnilingus on “Love in an elevator”.

The band gets into social subject matter for the first time on the autobiographical drug foibles on “Monkey On My Back” and child abuse and paternacide on “Janie’s Got A Gun”. The rocking doesn’t stop on the three following tracks starting with the AOR hit “The Other Side” but the band gets hard and funky again on “Voodoo Medicine Man” and ends with the goosebump begging and pleading ballad “What it Takes” featuring Steven Tyler’s best singing on the album. Still holds up FINE.

Before it was a brand, alternative rock music was making headway and although it was an off year for heavy metal a few innovative new bands broke out in a huge way.

The Cure, Disintegration

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The Cure’s gradual evolution from post-punk to goth to new wave to radio friendly commercial success put forth a lot of great music but spotty albums in the 80’s and then at the closing of the decade Robert Smith hunkered down, got sad and composed Disintegration. And the result is the most beautiful and atmospheric downer of an album ever made. The ironic thing is that listening to this brings forth joy at The Cure’s expense, being their phenomenal performance on this classic.

As wind chimes ring for almost 30 seconds a crescendo of synthesizers form an expansive chilling wall of sound on the modestly titled “Plainsong”. Then its the beautiful bass-lead riffing reminiscing ballad “Pictures of You”. The ascending “Closedown” belies the dread of the one stanza of the song. “Lovesong” is the most detached song ever with that title and gives the Cure’s label Elektra the massive money making hit they wanted, and got another hit with the equally catchy “Lullaby”.

“Fascination Street” is wall of massive sound and the heaviest and groove laden song they ever wrote. Following that songs brief respite in the outside world the album depression themes go full on for the next 20 minutes with “Prayers For Rain” and the ambience of “The Same Deep Waters As You”, both songs which Smith uses his thoughts of aging as drowning metaphors (explains the cover with him glaring under the surface of a lily pond). “Disintegration” is the Cure’s definitive epochal song as the music coincides with the feeling of collapse from excessive drug use. The album closes with “Homesick” and melodica driven “Untitled”. Moping never sounded so good and inspired.

Pixies, Doolittle

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What do you do when you put out a barrier breaking original rock and roll album that introduces an innovative composing style (soft verse/loud chorus) along with inventing a new genre like on “Surfer Rosa”? If you are the Pixies, you make the obligatory landmark album as your follow up. Though Surfer was a landmark too, Doolittle has more modern rock for your dollar.

As the two note bassline from Ms. Kim Deal comes on, Joey Santiago melodically abrasive guitar licks come in on the opening track “Debaser” and Black Francis goes off like a banshee while yelling ho-ho-ho on a song about a foreign horror flick. “Tame” and “Wave of Mutilation” continue with the garish surrealistic violent themes with heavy metal pop hooks. “I Bleed” is a little singalong style ditty as Deal follows Black’s lead on a song seems to be about genocide. Then comes the college station hit (on an album with a dozen of them) “Here Comes Your Man” which rides on a Beach Boys riff as Black croons about an eerie boxcar ride. After the biblical discordant noise rocker “Dead” comes the Pixies stunning crossover AOR radio hit about the man-made end of civilization and the planet Earth “Monkey Gone To Heaven”.

Surrealism and the off-kilter post-punk music collectively fuel the short spurt tracks “Mr Grieves” and “Crackity Jones” which gets disrupted by a silly love song sung by drummer Dave Lowering and blends into the next three tracks “No 13 Baby”, “There Goes My Gun” and Baby”. The album codas with two disparate moods on the evocative spaghetti western soundtrack “Sliver and the violent torture imagery on “Gouge Away”.

Unfortunately this album would be the last time the Pixies would coalesce all the band members talents as Black Francis got tyrannical on Kim put a cap on her sexy voice on the Pixies last two albums. Creative decisions sure can kill a band.

Faith No More, The Real Thing

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One of the greatest phenomenon’s in music is the proverbial artist that came out of nowhere. And with the legendary multi-genre spanning heavy metal band Faith No More they literally did just that (except to the people who already knew of them from their last album in 1987 and their crossover hit We Care A Lot). Even the first song and single on the monstrous “The Real Thing” might have been self-referential- the punk and organ driven “From out Of Nowhere” even if it was a standard metal song about a woman. Then it’s the classic second track and international super smash “Epic” as Faith No More merges rap and metal and new singer Mike Patton distinguishes himself as a dynamic frontman on a song about tripping balls.

“Falling to Pieces” continues in the funk vein with Billy Gould’s rubber bass line and Mike Bordin’s big beat drumming as Patton continues his schizo rapping and singing style and gets maniacal on guitarist Jim Martin’s metallic “Surprise! You’re Dead”. The Songs “Zombie Eaters” and “The Real Thing” are where the band adds progressive rock to their heavy metal hip hop boulliabaisse.

And the album closes with the noir tale “The Morning After”, the classical driven instrumental shredder “Woodpecker From Mars” and a stupendous remake of “War Pigs” (which was probably ordered by the major label as insurance for a single) and “Edge of the world” where Mike Patton brings out his inner lounge lizard.

Sepultura, Beneath The Remains

Morbid Angel, Alters Of Madness

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When Metallica went double platinum with ..and Justice For All bringing faster and harder edged music to the mainstream, major labels went on a frenzy signing dozens of other thrash metal bands that released quality but insignificant albums. Fortunately the existence of indie labels still existed and two bands would release landmark and still influential albums of their own.

New label Roadrunner records picked up Sepultura from Brazil, who already had two great albums before them, and out came “Beneath The Remains” which continued and expanded Metallica’s metal composition standards on their four masterpieces. With an ominous opening Max and Igor Cavalera and lead guitarist Andres Kisser slash and burn on the title track about a soldier’s accounting and responsibilty behind a shelling of a village. “Inner Self” and “Stronger Than Hate” deals with an individual’s convictions and the emotions that drive them. “Mass Hypnosis” covers the cults that blindly worship religious institutions.

“Sarastic Exsitence” graphically describes the effects of being institutionalized. “Slaves of Pain” and “Lobotomy” explore themes of accepting oppression and servitude to power, and the unstoppable force of the music concludes with the and the avarice and evolutionary themes of “Hungry” and “Primitive Future”

Underground label and British export Earache Records quietly hit America’s shores with bands like the legendary Napalm Death, Carcass and various other bands that took metal to new extremes, playing louder and faster with albums that were lyrically more gruesome, graphic and Satanic. But their American franchise band was a black metal group from Tampa Bay, Florida called Morbid Angel and their perfect debut album “Altars of Madness”

Starting with “Immortal Rights” and “Suffocation”, the band breaks open the gates of hell with the complex and stellar virtuosity musicianship notably by lead guitarist Trey Azagthoth and drummer Pete Sandoval as bassist and vocalist David Vincent possessed vocals give the devil his due and praise. “Visions from the Darkside” is another demonic allegory comparing hell and war. “Maze Of Torment” describes a few rings of Dante’s Inferno.

The next four songs continues giving the devil his due with blistering leads and blast beats while like “Damnation” and “Blasphemy” direct their bile on their rival christian institutions and the closer “Evil Spells” references the sad sack Faust. I bet Slayer regretted taking the year off when this was out.

Nirvana, Bleach

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Last year was the Sliver silver anniversary of Kurt Cobain’s suicide at his house in Aberdeen, Washington but it was also the 30th anniversary of Nirvana’s debut on Sub Pop records “Bleach”. Budgeted for a measly $6,000, Kurt, Kris Novaselic and two drummers pre-Grohl pounded 12 classic songs songs laying the genesis of the hardcore and metal (with pop sensibilities) “grunge” sound that would take over and save the music industry in a few years.

Kurt Cobain’s and the band’s approach was at first derivative of the his favorite bands at time, especially the Pixies, Sabbath, R.E.M., various indie punk bands and his beloved Melvins (their drummer Dale Crover plays on a few tracks here). The first two tracks “Blew”, “Floyd the Barber” and “Paper Cuts” clearly show the Melvins influence on Kurt. Although the next track “About a Girl”, his song crafting potential comes through on this Beatles styled track and the catchy bubblegum guitar riffing of “Love Buzz” (a remake of a cheesy 70’s pop song).

The albums best tracks delve into anti-social hardcore punk and   existential dread of “School”, “Negative Creep” and “Scoff”. “Swap Meet” is a very funny story song about the title subject as Nirvana continues to perfect the pop/hardcore sound laid down by contemporary and temporary superstar band the Pixies. “Mr. Moustache” and “Sifting” are fast and slow savage takedowns of Kurt’s targeting society’s worst elements, bullies and authority figures.

Ministry, The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste

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Ministry already established themselves as metal saviors on their last album “Land of Rape And Honey” the year before but apparently that wasn’t enough as they brought more guitars and stacks on this followup.

The metal machine music on “The Mind is A Terrible Thing to Taste” goes from zero to hyperdrive immediately starting with the staccato machine gun riffing classic “Thieves” as Alain Jourgensen, his silent partner Paul Barker and Wax Trax label ally Chris Connelly renovate their industrial music sound they helped pioneer with powersaw flourishes over a hip hop beat disrupted by trash metal spurts following the verses condemning thieves, liars, hypocrites and bastards. “Burning Inside” continues the onslaught on a relentless hardcore track about drug withdrawal overwhelming the body.

After the Art of Noise/Motorhead romp “Never Believe and the bass and synth ambient “Cannibal Song”, “Breathe” (you fuckers!) opens up side 2 with 5 minutes of hard driving pounding repetition. “So What” is the epic track that rolls on dub, ambient music and audio chatter reminiscent of the best of PiL and Pink Floyd that gets disrupted by Jourgensen’s abrasive shouting and power chords. Then comes a surprising appearance of a guest MC that is tasked to rap over a collapsing wall of sound and fury on the albums loudest song “Test”. The album closes with the death march instrumental “Faith Collapsing” and the ambient “Dream Song”.

With this album, Ministry jumped into the forefront of the rock and roll revolution as aggressive music would take over and dominate the mainstream in a short amount of time.

Goo Goo Dolls, Jed

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After Paul Westerberg and the Replacements disappointed most of the world with their bland followup to their garage rock masterpiece “Pleased to meet me” in 89, other bands they influenced had to fill the void left by them (which includes the aforementioned Aerosmith) But hardly anyone knew that three punks from Buffalo, New York would take that sound and aggression and put out a power pop punk classic.

Robbie, Johnny and George Goo took their Mats as well as their Cheap Trick, Metallica and Ramones influences and put the pedal to the metal on this overlooked gem of an album. The albums first four tracks are perfection “Out of Sight” ,”Up Yours”, “No Way Out”, and the sparkling phenomenal instrumental “7th of Last Month” another one of those songs that you wish were longer, and continues the onslaught with “Sex Maggot” and “Love Dolls” until it’s interrupted with a lounge lizard guest star crooning with the Goos on the CCR remake “Down On The Corner”

The band branches out musically with dynamic melodies on Side 2’s opening tracks “Had Enough” and the gorgeous “Road To Salinas” , returns to the snotty punk of “Misfortune” and closes with a Stones cover song and Johnny’s warm acoustic standout coda ode to “James Dean”. Like “Jed”‘s cover, the Goos played like they were DWI and crank and every song was catchy and memorable and laid the groundwork for the pop punk driven hardcore that would be monetized by bands like Green Day and Blink 182 about a half decade later.

Prong, Force Fed

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New York City Hardcore became a huge movement in the late 80’s and maintained its relevance by staying provincial and being populated by excellent bands like the Cro-Mags, War Zone and Agnostic Front just to name a few. Which led to the spawning of the  thrash metal godhead band Prong.

Their debut “Force Fed” (which was recorded in 87) showcased excellent and almost poetic songwriting and performing on dense hardcore songs barely exceeding 3 minutes as per the NYCH standard. Tommy Victor’s stellar riffs open up “Freezer Burn”, “Forgery” and “Senseless Abuse” while Ted Parsons relentless and savage drumming conjures up the feeling of a runaway local subway train. “Primitive Origins” slows it down just a little bit until reverting their normal breakneck pace of the first 3 tracks as “Aggrevated Condition” reveals the influence of their contemporaries Slayer and Anthrax.

The brilliant debut album continues it’s savage head banging neck breaking pace while buttressed by killer instrumentals on songs like “Decay”, the title track, “the Taming” and the tracks “The Colisseum” and the chugging “It’s been decided” respectively. Then closes with the apocalyptic themes incorporating elements of arty noise in “Look Up At the Sun” and Drainpipe”.

 

The album is a 30 minute treatise on mass consumerism and the biological breakdowns of disease. Like the best metal bands Metallica and Slayer, Prong’s focused aggression and musical execution made them stand out.

Janet Jackson, Rhythm Nation 1814

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Even though there were a lot of albums that needed acknowledgement, they had to be set aside with every listing it’s obligatory to include a blockbuster release. But obligation doesn’t mean shit with Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation. It wasn’t just an album, it was also a movement and it warrants mention and recognition here also. Produced by The Time’s Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (who also produced her previous blockbuster mallrat album Control), Ms. Jackson and her studio allies took the sounds and signs of the times from contemporaries like Prince, Tracy Chapman and Public Enemy, the new jack swing genre and even industrial music and assembled an excellent commercial and conceptual R&B pop album.

Ms. Jackson starts off the album showing off great songwriting and sincere takes on current events, pleas for activism and politics on the hard driving funk songs “Rhythm Nation”, “State of The World” and the brilliant “The Knowledge”. Then come more and more hits in the world wide hit confections “Miss You Much” and “Love Will Never Do”

Then the world party gets disrupted with the pathos of “Living in A World (they didn’t make)” as Ms. Jackson laments about what the children of the future that Whitney Houston sang about are going to inherit from their adult leaders if they are able to survive in the streets rife with gang violence.

Ms. Jackson slips politics on the dance track “Alright” (Kendrick Lamar would do something similar with his same titled hit), followed by the bouyant”Escapade” and the surprisingly good frozen metal track “Black Cat”Ms. Jackson wisely decides to leave the love songs for last with great tracks like “Lonely” the hit “Come Back to Me” and “Someday is Tonight”.  An amazing and well composed and sequenced album from a remarkable talent. Which is not a surprise coming from a woman from a musical family and who played Penny on Good Times and Willis’s girlfriend on Different Strokes.

 

Honorable Mention: Public Enemy Fight The Power 12” single.

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Even though Public Enemy already established themselves as the only band that mattered with two great albums (including what is still the greatest rap album ever made), they were still a great reliable singles band capable of dropping hit after hit like Sly and The Family Stone used to do when they first came out. So it was only natural when Spike Lee got down with the P.E. and let them write the theme song for his landmark and best movie “Do The Right Thing”.

When “Fight The Power” came out a few weeks before the movie released and killed everything else on the radio, making the call to assemble and gather arms one of the greatest political protest anthems as well as the biggest song of the summer. The song was so catchy that the character Radio Raheem played it about 20 times in the movie it propelled and would ultimately play it to (his) death.

“Fight the Power”, the music provided by the Bomb Squad and the virtuoso cutting and fading by Terminator X was as incendiary as Chuck’s vitriol proselytizing and pop culture shaming lyrics, followed by the Brandford Marsalis free jazz sax coda carrying the song to the end. Though Chuck dates the song on the first line, Fight The Power’s music and the message stays powerful and relevant even in this near quarter old century we’re in now. Especially with Trump in the White House and Bernie Sanders bringing a formidable challenge to his fragile and waning reign on the nation.

How they rank:

  1. Beastie Boys, Paul’s Boutique (Album of the year)
  2. Lou Reed, New York
  3. Neil Young, Freedom
  4. Ice T, The Iceberg: Freedom of Speech, Just Watch What You Say
  5. Pixies, Doolittle
  6. Faith No More, The Real Thing
  7. The Cure, Disintegration
  8. Tom Petty, Full Moon Fever
  9. Ministry, The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste
  10. Jungle Brothers, Done By The Forces Of Nature
  11. Ghetto Boys, Grip It! On That Other Level
  12. Nirvana, Bleach (Best new artist)
  13. Sepultura, Beneath The Remains
  14. De La Soul, 3 Feet High And Rising
  15. Boogie Down Production, Ghetto Music: The Blueprint Of Hip Hop
  16. Queen Latifah, All Hail The Queen
  17. Prong, Force Fed
  18. Morbid Angel, Altars Of Madness
  19. 3rd Bass, The Cactus Album
  20. Janet Jackson, Rhythm Nation 1814
  21. Goo Goo Dolls, Jed
  22. Aerosmith, Pump
  23. Public Enemy, Fight The Power 12″ (Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year)

(Acknowledgements due to some actual essential music in 2019; Tool’s first album in 13 years “Fear Innoculum” and L7’s killer comeback “Scatter the Rats”. Also death metal band’s MGLA “Age of Excuse” and Cattle Decapitation’s mind blowing and expanding apocalypse album “World Atlas.  And Lizzo is pretty good too)

New Bad Days 71: Illegal Immigrant Fugitive Rapes And Murders Elderly Woman By Her House; Twin Babies Die In Their Sleep At Hotel Homeless Shelter; Tenant Kills His Landlord While Moving Out Of His House; Two Men Use Arson To Cover Up Their Killings; Mother Gets Killed By Her Son After She Calls The Cops Who Refused To Take Her Complaint And Her Son’s Behavior Seriously; Truck Driver Kills Bike Rider While Making An Illegal U-turn; Recidivist Bank Robber, A Package Burglar And A Demented Violent Panhandler Continue Their Criminal Habits After Their Trial Releases; A Couple Beat The Shit Out Of Each Other On A Subway Train To The Bronx; A Shiftless NYCHA Worker Shoots His Supervisor Who Told Him To Do His Job; A Maniac Disrupted A Basketball Game On MLK Day By Firing A Gun Inside The Gymnasium And Blowback From New State Justice Reform Laws Leads To An Acceleration Of More Shootings, Robberies, Muggings, Stabbings And Burglaries As Well As A Rise In Reckless Driving And On Street, Subway And School Violence

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Queens

In South Richmond Hill, a 92-year-old woman collecting recyclables was attacked by a man who threw her to the ground behind a parked car then strangled her and raped her and left her for dead on the sidewalk near her house. The woman succumbed to her injuries and died hours later. The man who got caught who was on video stalking her and throwing her down claimed he never sexually violated her and that he was trying to help her up but his belt broke and his dick fell on her. His attempt at “helping” left her with multiple fractures and bruises on her frail body and a broken spine. He finally confessed to the brutal and heartless killing of Maria Fuentes by blaming it on his mother for not giving him enough affection.

Fareez Kahn was found to have mental problems and sexual urges plus he also attacked his father with a broken cup and got kicked out of the house two months ago. He was also an illegal immigrant that was on detainer for deportation by Immigration Customs Enforcement because of this very incident and were constantly thwarted by de Blasio’s NYPD to arrest him even though his father requested an order of protection against his son.

Even though the NYPD claims that they never once heard from ICE about the detainer, the federal government is suing this city for not cooperating by withholding information about Kahn’s whereabouts after he was released from assault charges from attacking his father (who decided to drop the charges against him). After six weeks of slumming around and wandering the streets, Kahn raped and murdered Ms. Fuentes.

This gruesome incident got the attention of President Donald Trump as he included it in his State of the Union speech in defense of ICE while condemning New York’s sanctuary city policy (even though he didn’t mention Ms. Fuentes name). This led to Mayor de Blasio and his city hall minions to react and accuse Donnie playing politics and exploiting Kahn’s killing even though it was politics that got in the way and the city was exploiting Trump to undermine  ICE agents legally trying to detain a violent mentally ill man off the streets because de Blasio’s NYPD didn’t seem to want to until it was too late . Which is just as tragic, as petty and irresponsible partisan politics led to the unnecessary and preventable death of Ms. Fuentes while she was doing her daily routines. It’s also tragic that she was still recycling bottles to earn some extra money, which should be a damning condemnation of this city’s ossifying affordability crisis

In East Elmhurst, two month old twin boys suffocated to death in their crib at a hotel homeless shelter while their father put them down for a nap after he smoked a joint and fell asleep himself. The mother wasn’t around because she was reportedly ejected from the shelter for reasons unknown.

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Back in 2017, a bill signed by Governor Cuomo led to State Dept. Of Health to institute a safe baby box program to prevent crib death by distributing cribs to poor parents and also literature stressing safety measures like not putting stuffed animals, loose mattresses, and excessive blankets and pillows in the boxes. Somehow de Blasio’s Department of Homeless Services must have forgot about that. The only proactive measures that were made in this tragedy so far seems to be the effort by the authorities to cover it up.

To think that there isn’t adequate affordable housing and safe shelters for these two babies to rest. Which is another damning condemnation on this city’s ossifying affordability crisis.

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Also in East Elmhurst, a man died after getting shot in the chest and another man was shot in the abdomen moments later on the street.

In Jackson Heights at the 74th St./Roosevelt Ave. Station, two men approached a man on the E train and punched him twice and robbed his cellphone and wallet.

Also in Jackson Heights, a man got killed crossing the street by a driver ran over him with his car by backing up towards the intersection

In Jamaica, a man hanging out in front of a laundromat and got confronted by four men, and one of them shot him in the back.

Also in Jamaica, a man attacked his girlfriend while she was sleeping in a room at Jamaica Hospital with her ill six-month-old baby that was admitted there. As the woman awoke on a chair, her boyfriend slashed her in the face and arm.

Again in Jamaica, a woman snatched a purse off a wheelchair while the handicapped woman was trying on clothes in a dressing room.

 

And again in Jamaica, an argument between two men on a street corner escalated when one of them shot the other multiple times hitting him in the back, arm and leg.

And again in Jamaica, a man grabbed a woman who was walking on the sidewalk and took her into an alley and raped her.

In Ozone Park, a fire broke out inside a corner deli and quickly spread to and destroyed five other houses. Five firefighters were injured including an off-duty fireman who assisted in putting out the blazes.

Also in Ozone Park, a man along with two passengers in a stolen car got pulled over by cops in a traffic stop and the driver hit the gas and sped down the street then crashed into a parked livery car and broke the leg of its driver and injured his passenger sitting inside as they ran away from the scene.

In South Ozone Park, big rigs are being left parked by a traffic island for weeks, causing a hazardous obstruction on the busy boulevard by the Belt Parkway.

Also in South Ozone Park, a man snatched $500 out of woman’s hand as she was playing a jackpot slot machine in Resorts World, denying her the chance of the casino robbing her instead.

Again in South Ozone Park, a rash of wheel thefts was reported by the 106th Pct.

In South Jamaica, a man walking home from work was stabbed to death by a man in front of a hotel homeless shelter.

Also in South Jamaica, a man pulled over by cops for stealing a car fled on foot and a grenade dropped out his pocket during the pursuit and subsequent arrest.

In Woodhaven, a gas station attendant got into an argument with a customer who then attacked him as he punched him multiple times and slashed him in the face and robbed $60 from him.

In Corona, after refusing to pay his rent, a man moving out of a house got into a tussle with his landlord who was preventing him from removing a bed. The man then pushed the landlord off the stoop causing him to land on the concrete on his head. The landlord died from his injury the next day.

 

Also in Corona, a mother got seriously injured and her 10-year-old son died when they were both hit by a garbage truck speeding out of a driveway as they were crossing the street.

Again in Corona, two men brawling each other inside a cafe/nite club spilled onto the street then they both got shot at from a gunman around the corner with one getting hit in the stomach and the other shot in the chest who wound up dead.

And again in Corona, a man walked up to another man on the sidewalk and shot him the chest and stole his chain.

In Far Rockaway, a man spat at a woman who wouldn’t allow him to enter a yeshiva school. He also made a universal threat to kill all Jews.

In Flushing, a 74-year-old woman got killed while jaywalking as a jeep hit her in the middle of the block.

Also in Flushing, a man held up a liquor store at gunpoint and robbed it of $800.

In St. Albans, an 18-year-old girl was raped by a man she hitched a ride with back in May. So this guy has been on the streets for about 8 months.

Also in St. Albans, a man was shot in his leg in by two men firing guns at him in a drive by shooting on the street.

Again in St. Albans, a man released from jail 7 months ago got shot to death on the street. The killer is still at large.

And again in St. Albans, a man stole a Catholic Charities truck delivering meals on wheels to residents and rammed into a parked car that wound up plowed into a building, injuring two people inside of it as the truck veered off the road and flipped over after it smashed into a street pole and a mailbox.

In Queens Village, a dead man was found tied up face first on the floor of a burning house that was under development after the FDNY put out the blaze.

Also in Queens Village, a 16-year-old boy shot himself in the foot after he was mobbed by a gang of teenagers in front of a high school.

In Far Rockaway, a 16-year-old boy was shot in the chest by the elevated train tracks.

Also in Far Rockaway, a man got hit by a car while crossing the street.

In Astoria, NYPD personnel parked their personal cars in unauthorized spaces and sidewalks on the first official day of the city’s placard law.

Also in Astoria, two women attacked an 89-year-old woman inside an elevator in an apartment building and robbed her purse.

Again in Astoria, a man went on an assault spree on the sidewalks as he randomly punched two women in the face and also went into a jewelry store and threatened people with a knife.

And again in Astoria, a heavy metal bolt fell from the elevated tracks of the 7 train and crashed through the sunroof of a man’s car. Andy Byford couldn’t comment on this latest threat from the dilapidated infrastructure above us because, well, he up and quit.

In Woodside at the 69th St. Station, a man sucker punched and spit on a conductor on the 7 train when she opened her window to check the platform.

Also in Woodside, a man committed suicide by hanging himself on a lamp post an overpass on the BQE.

Again in Woodside, a man walloped a woman with a blunt instrument while riding his bike near her.

In Forest Hills at the 75th Ave. Station, a man snatched a purse from a woman after she got off the train and ran off. He then tried to use credit cards to purchase video games.

Also in Forest Hills at the 71st Ave./Continental Ave. Station, a singular bedbug was spotted inside a control tower which cause transit workers to panic and flee. Then the tower was fumigated and caused service on the E,F,G, and R lines to be delayed for hours because no one was operating the switches. I said it before and I’ll say it again and again, this is what caused Andy Byford to say goodbye to all that and quit the MTA. A few weeks later, the late bedbug’s next of kin was found in the tower again.

Again in Forest Hills at the Union Turnpike Station, a man menaced a woman by combing his facial hair with a 5 inch knife while she was sitting on the E train then sat down next to her and started jerking off.

And again in Forest Hills and also Glendale, a mall parking garage is being used as a hangout for a meeting place for drag racing on the turnpike and doing donuts on the lot

In Bayside, a 14-year-old girl assaulted a 13-year-old girl inside the cafeteria at the Marie Curie Middle School as three teachers watched and did nothing. Even when an adult tried to break it up, the older girl continued to wail punches on her victim. When said adult let her go, she ran atop a table and did a flying fist drop on her victim then jumped back on the table and preened like a WWE diva.

When the Department Of Education Chancellor Richard Carranza and a panel of his cronies showed up at a town hall, the mother of the victim got out of her seat and addressed the growing violence and the lack of supervision and fecklessness of the teachers and principal at the school. So Carranza abruptly ended it and walked out.

In Murray Hill, a 17-year-old boy and another teenage male attempted to rob display items from a cellphone store and were caught by workers who nabbed him as his accomplice split and left him behind.

In Ridgewood, a man failing to rip off cellphones off a display rack in a telecom store decided to rob the cash register instead and made off with $300.

Also in Ridgewood, a man impersonating a police officer deceived a 65-year-old man and robbed $410 off him.

Again in Ridgewood, a man held up a bank with a note and robbed $500.

And again in Ridgewood, two men hassled a man for his valuables and beat him down when he refused them. Then the men chased him on the street and stole his cellphone that he dropped while running.

In Maspeth, a woman got killed while crossing the street when a van hit her twice and dragged her on the asphalt.

In Rego Park, a man flipped his car over on a residential street that’s being used by hot rodders as a racing strip.

In Middle Village, two men broke into a convenience and robbed it of $7,000

In Sunnyside, a DEA agent was busted in a sting of him trying to solicit sex from a 14-year-old boy on the internet.

Also in Sunnyside, a man broke into two houses and robbed two purses, cash and jewelry while residents were still inside.

Again in Sunnyside, a man held up an organic food market at knifepoint and robbed $150 and stabbed a worker who tried to stop him twice.

In Briarwood, an 11-year-old girl was surrounded by a group of other girls at a middle school playground then one of them assaulted her and threw her down to the pavement as her friends gawked and cheered. The bullied victim’s father transferred her into another school when the school’s administrators and the “anti-bullying” office of the DOE wouldn’t respond to his complaints.

In Whitestone, a man broke into a house and stole $3,000 worth of jewelry, purses and credit cards.

In Fresh Meadows, a car was broken into and was vandalized with swastikas.

Also in Fresh Meadows, a man mugged eight women for their purses, cash and cellphones in the month of December and is still on the loose.

In College Point, two men and a woman were pinched by a Long Island cop for getting visa waivers from the Department of Homeland Security to do business in America. Then would used those visas to work in homes they burglarized.

In Springfield Gardens, an off-duty cop collided into another car and then crashed into two other vehicles and a telephone pole, injuring himself and two others critically.

Also in Springfield Gardens, a pregnant woman sitting in her car was suddenly approached by a man who took out a gun and shot her in both hands.

In Little Neck, a man driving a car while speeding in the wrong direction on the Grand Central Parkway crashed into a car heading the right way. The driver and two of his passengers were instantly killed while the driver of the other car wound up in critical condition.

On Rikers Island, an inmate escaped from his cell and slashed a C.O. in the face. If only a tower jail would get built so this would stop.

Also on Rikers Island, six C.O.’s and a gang of inmates and civilian employees were busted for conspiring and smuggling pot, K2 and opioid overdose prevention meds into the prisons. Which they were able to acquire from transactions via an app.

At LaGuardia Airport, a man who got caught stealing by Port Authority officers attacked them while in custody and spat in one of their mouths. The gobber was then released without bail because of the harmless charges of larceny and assault.

At JFK Airport, a man married to Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie’s chief of staff was caught with a couple of baggage handlers trying to smuggle a rolling luggage case filled with three kilos of cocaine. Heastie’s aide was present at the time of the bust and somehow had no idea of the drug deal and trafficking attempt her husband was invoved with.

Brooklyn

In Fort Greene, a philanthropist well known in his neighborhood for his charity foundation was stabbed to death by a homeless man who tried to cover up the murder by burning down his brownstone building with his victim still inside. The killer was involved in a sexual relationship with him

Also in Fort Greene, a man was approached by a masked man who then pulled a gun out and shot him on the shoulder and ran.

Again in Fort Greene, a 67-year-old woman was struck and killed by a 83-year-old man driving a pickup truck who turned into her while she was in the crosswalk.

In Kensington, a man behaving erratically was refused entry to an apartment building by a security guard. Then he went to his mother’s apartment and threatened her, leading the woman to call 911 when she saw her son sharpening a knife and muttering about using it on the doorman. The skeptical operator deduced that he could be using that knife to cut fruit.  Then the police showed up and told her that they did not see any apparent threat at the time and left. An hour later, the man attacked his mother and beat and stabbed her to death. The man was reportedly suffering for years from mental illness.

Also in Kensington, a man threw bottles at two men working in a supermarket while yelling bigoted slurs at them.

In Sunset Park, a man conversing with a man and woman sitting in a parked car pulled out a gun and shot at them, hitting the woman in the leg. Three men hanging out in front of a storefront church were also shot at and hit in a drive by shooting. The man who shot the woman was freed without bail after his arraignment.

Also in Sunset Park, a man got into a fight with another man in someone’s house and stabbed him with a pair of scissors.

In Flatbush, a dollar van driver climbed atop a shuttle bus and yelled and cursed at a phalanx of cops trying to get him down. As this person and other frustrated dollar van drivers in the vicinity encouraged the man to continue to resist. As he was brought down and pinned by cops and put on a gurney inside an ambulance, dozens of cops pushed a crowd of people towards the sidewalk to obstruct them from seeing the man being sent away. Or from even trying to film it on their phones. What exactly is the meaning of this oppressive treatment of public concern?

 

Also in Flatbush, a cop planted a stun gun in the glove compartment of a man’s SUV during a search to fabricate an arrest.

Again in Flatbush, a man on a bike menaced a 61-year-old man by riding beside him and yelling “kill Jews”.

And again in Flatbush, a man sneaked into an affordable luxury condo building under development and robbed a bunch of tools. The man then foolishly returned to get some more and got caught by workers at the site.

And again in Flatbush at the Church Ave. Station, a man grabbed a woman by the hair as she tried to board the Q train, then stole her glasses and ran away.

In East Flatbush, a 68-year-old man shot his daughter in the arm during a domestic dispute.

Also in East Flatbush, a boy got hit by a car as he ran across the middle of the block in a rush to get to his school.

Again in East Flatbush, a woman stabbed an 85-year-old man inside his apartment after a sexual tryst with him. The woman was sprung without bail three weeks earlier after she was charged with stabbing a man who violently choked her during a domestic dispute.

In Downtown Brooklyn at the Hoyt-Schemehorn Station, a man walked off the G train and got stabbed twice in the arm and hand by a man who followed him off and who he was previously sitting next to. His attacker then questioned him if he had religion in his life.

Also in Downtown Brooklyn, three 15-year-old boys attacked a newsstand worker and beat him down just to steal candy and four other teenage boys held up a nearby newsstand at knifepoint and beat down the clerk and robbed his cash. Both of which are part of a newsstand robbery crime spree committed by ten boys.

Again in Downtown Brooklyn, a man randomly beat down a woman on the sidewalk with a Razor scooter, leaving her in critical condition with repeated blows to the head.

And again in Downtown Brooklyn, the moron who sprayed the words Bird God on the Grand Army Plaza arch returned to scrawl a bunch of gobbliegook statements on it with a permanent marker.

And again in Downtown Brooklyn at the Borough Hall Station, a man punched a woman in the head for no reason and pushed her off the platform and also attacked a man trying to help her. The Samaritan was able to pull her off the tracks as the asshole ran to the other side and escaped catching the 4 train.

In East New York, six men brutally beat and sexually violated a homeless man by sticking a broomstick up his ass and robbed him of $100 and left him lying naked and bleeding on the street.

Also in East New York, a woman went berserk when a city bus suspended service because a boy vomited during the ride and slashed his mother in the face and then she fled in a black car waiting nearby.

Again in East New York, a woman was stabbed to death inside a drug din.

In Bed-Stuy, a man shot a woman in the butt while during a gunpoint mugging.

Also in Bed-Stuy, a man killed his mother by shooting her in the face in her apartment at the Sumner Houses.

Again in Bed-Stuy, a man slashed his girlfriend multiple times in the face, neck and chest following a domestic dispute in their apartment.

In Gowanus, two men held up a pizzeria at gunpoint and robbed a portable ATM machine.

In Boerum Hill, a man driving in a stolen car collided into another vehicle in the intersection which caused it to crashed into two parked cars.

In Park Slope, a gang of six boys sneaked into the back door of a Mickey D’s and stole a bunch of desserts and chocolate milk.

Also in Park Slope, a fire engulfed the third floor of an apartment, killing a man and woman living there.

In Red Hook, a man strangled his pregnant girlfriend to death then pushed her out of his car and abandoned her in front of the Red Hook Houses after he abandoned their 2-year-old son on the street in Jackson Heights.

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In East Williamsburg, a man riding his bike got brutally killed when a truck driver made an accelerated sharp U-turn from a driveway and ran him over. The driver was not charged as of yet for the slaughter.

In Williamsburg, three men surrounded a 66-year-old man and threatened him while calling him bigoted slurs about his religion.

Also in Williamsburg at the Lorimer St. Station, a man got hit by the arriving L train as he fell backwards off the platform.

In Canarsie, a 70-year-old woman was murdered by a hit-and-run driver while she was walking in the crosswalk.

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Also in Canarsie, a man was found dead floating in the water by a pier in Jamaica Bay.

In Crown Heights at the Utica Ave. Station, a woman approached another woman on the platform and yelled an anti-Semetic slur at her and threatened to throw her onto the tracks.

Also in Crown Heights, a man followed a man who stole packages from a building, then the thief kicked him and beat him on the ground on a street corner. The man and other Samaritans followed him and held him for the police to arrest him.

Again in Crown Heights and also Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, a man broke into nine apartment buildings by breaking glass doors with a rock and robbed packages that were delivered by Amazon. After he was released without bail for that crime, he then committed six more break in apartment building robberies and then went to Greenwich Village with a brick and broke into a designer glasses store and robbed $4,000 worth of sunglasses. Guess what happened after the thief got arrested and arraigned for his second crime spree. And guess what happened after he got released again, he broke into two apartment buildings in Boerum Hill and stole packages then accessed a construction site by bashing his way in with a rock but was caught by cops trying to pilfer valuables from boxes placed there.

And again in Crown Heights, a man randomly sucker punched a 73-year-old man in the face that left his victim permanently blinded in his left eye.

In Coney Island, a man stabbed another man to death inside of his ex-girlfriend’ apartment. The woman previously bailed the killer out of jail a year earlier when he was charged with attempted murder.

Also in Coney Island, an off-duty fireman clawed his girlfriends face while they were in bed together.

In Prospect/Lefferts Gardens, a man sucker punched a 70-year-old woman while she walking by him on the sidewalk.

Also in Prospect/Lefferts Gardens, two men and a woman got into a brawl with workers in a Chinese restaurant, as they whacked them with a broom and threw soda cans at them.

In Greenpoint, a man jumped another man from behind on the street and stabbed him seven times when he was down.

Also in Greenpoint, two men vandalized a restaurant with swastika graffiti.

Again in Greenpoint, a man walked into a church and threw red juice on the alter and on a priest serving mass. The suspect is still at large.

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In Borough Park, a 67-year-old woman got killed when she got hit by a cement truck that ran her over as the light turned green as she was crossing between that and a car in front.

In Midwood, a massive fire engulfed a three-story house, killing an 11-year-old girl still inside.

In Bath Beach, a dispute between two girls on social media over toy slime escalated when their fathers got involved. as one of them showed up at the other fathers house as he was celebrating his daughters birthday. The man outside then challenged him to a fight at a nearby park as he was standing with other men he brought with him. The two fathers then started tussling and the man who initiated the fight as the brother-in-law of the birthday girl’s dad broke it up. Then the man procured a knife and stabbed his rival in the neck and his brother-in law in the leg.

Also in Bath Beach, a man held up and robbed a bodega at gunpoint. He is also wanted for two other similar bodega hold ups committed in the previous two months.

Also in Dyker Heights, a man shot 29 rounds from his AR-15 rifle into the street from his house window, hitting his own car and his neighbors house window. He was released after his arraignment not because of his bail reform but by the Army for his service as a soldier in Afghanistan.

In Flatlands, a woman killed herself when she forced open the middle door of a city bus after the driver missed her stop and fell onto the street and got run over by it.

In Sheepshead Bay, a 15-year-old boy was held up at knifepoint by two men on a city bus as the men smacked his head and robbed his ear pods and knocked off his yarmulke while insulting his religion. Then they gave his stuff back and ran off the bus.

In Bensonhurst, a 67-year-old woman was struck and killed by a dump truck while she crossing the middle of the block at 4 a.m.

Also in Bensonhurst, a man got stabbed while he was fighting with two other men in front of a restaurant.

Again in Bensonhurst, a 66-year-old woman with a walker fell on the ground while struggling with a man who ripped off her purse and ran away.

And again in Bensonhurst, a manhole exploded on the street burning two men working there at the time.

In Brighton Beach, a 16-year-old boy mugged another boy on the street a month later after he was sprung out of prison serving time on an attempted murder charge and his $50,000 bail nullified by a judge.

In Bay Ridge at the 95th St. Station, a man grabbed a woman and forced her into a bathroom, punched her in the face multiple times and sexually assaulted her. Then ran when a man caught the attempted rape in the act.

In Ditmars Park, a cop responding to an emergency call lost control of his police cruiser and crashed it into a diner

In Brownsville, an off-duty traffic cop slashed the tires of his wife’s lover’s car.

Also in Brownsville, a man who recently became a father and was released from prison got shot to death following an argument with his killer inside an apartment building lobby.

In Windsor Terrace, an off duty secret service agent shot a dog to death with his government issued gun because he thought the dog was unleashed and was about to attack him.

A man who got arrested and indicted then released without bail for robbing four banks in Manhattan, robbed a bank with a note in Brooklyn on the day he was released on his own recognizance.

On the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, a man crashed his van into a median and got stuck and was fortunate that Mario’s Son Governor Cuomo was there to interfere in his rescue by cutting him loose from his seatbelt with his pocket knife.

An off-duty cop beat up his wife in their house. 50a law prevents anyone from knowing what town this happened in.

Manhattan

In Harlem, a man held his ex-girlfriend hostage by gunpoint in her apartment and was coaxed to surrender by the victims daughter and his parole officer.

Also in Harlem, two teenage boys held up a 13-year-old boy at knifepoint and stole his little white headphone sticks. The little rascals also smacked a couple of them off the head of a woman in Morningside Heights a week earlier.

Again in Harlem, an argument between two EMT’s inside their ambulance escalated when one of them took a computer tablet and repeatedly bashed it on her partner’s head.

And again in Harlem, a man getting loaded on cough syrup with his friends at his grandparents house got into a fight with his grandfather who tried to kicked them out. When his grandmother tried to break them up, her grandson shoved her against the wall causing her to fall on the floor. The man was caught by cops and arrested when they caught him riding an e-motored cycle he stole. At his arraignment, the judge set him free without bail and this was his reaction:

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This lout also gave a pound to a skel who was also let loose following a drunk driving charge.

And again in Harlem at the 145th St. Station, a man suckerpunched a conductor in the face on the 3 train.

And again in Harlem, a man intervened in a street fight between two men on the street and wound up getting stabbed in the torso. The two men came to an agreement to flee.

And again in Harlem, a gang of four boys mugged and robbed four other boys for their airpods and cash in a span of an hour by punching their faces and holding them up at knifepoint.

And again in Harlem at the 125th St. Station, a man slashed a woman twice in the face when she asked him for money on the platform. She had to get 40 stitches for two wounds.

And again in Harlem, three men walked up to a woman sitting on a park bench then one of them held her up at gunpoint and stole her purse and cellphone while his buddies acted as lookouts.

And again in Harlem, a fusillade of gunfire hit three men on the street in broad fucking daylight, killing a man who got shot twice in the chest and injuring two other

And again in Harlem at the 125th St. Station, a man on the tracks got hit by the arriving 2 train and survived. The train’s schedule that evening didn’t though.

And again in Harlem at the 135th St. Station, a man got killed when he fell under the A train while walking between cars.

And again in Harlem, a woman taking the A train downtown grabbed an overhead bar that was slathered with peanut butter.

In Midtown, an argument with a man and a Dunkin Donuts worker about him smoking weed outside the store escalated when the man brandished a knife, leading the worker to grab a bread knife in self-defense. Another worker intervened to break up the fight and wound up getting stabbed in the wrist.

Also in Midtown, a man set himself on fire inside his luxury apartment kitchen attempting to cook a batch of date rape drugs.

Again in Midtown at the  49th St. Station, a woman got killed when she fell off the N train while trying to walk between cars.

And again in Midtown, a homeless man got hit by a coach bus when he suddenly dashed across the street. The bus then kept on going.

And again in Midtown, four women engaged in a catfight in a bar that spilled out to the front door in a virtual cage match where slammed each other into the walls while pulling on each others hair and exchanging punches.

And again in Midtown, a man got out of his car with a machete in his hand and threatened and yelled at workers at a construction site and then punched one of them in the eye.

And again in Midtown, a man who was indicted for robbing seven banks while looking sharp and was released because of the new state bail reform law robbed another bank with a note after being on the streets for only a month.

And again in Midtown, a man who got arraigned then released without bail after robbing four banks of $2,000 by handing tellers a note in one week, attempted to rob another bank but left with nothing. After that arrest and being released without bail again which the perp even found ludicrous, he went to Downtown Brooklyn and held up a bank with a note and robbed $1,000.

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And again in Midtown at the 59th St./Lexington Ave Station, a woman stabbed a man in the stomach during an argument on the platform then got on the arriving 6 train and was met by cops waiting for her at the 125th St. Station.

And again in Midtown, a man attacked a woman walking by him and punched her in the head and walloped her with his rolling luggage bag.

 

And again in Midtown, debris fell off a 84 story super-tall luxury tower still under development and landed on a taxi cab.

And again in Midtown, a woman got slashed in the face and a man was slashed in the arm from three men who engaged in an argument with them in front of a niteclub.

And again in Midtown, a man riding a e-motored bike cut off a man walking in the crosswalk. After the pedestrian confronted him about his recklessness and the available bike lane, the e-biker spit on him and then stabbed the pedestrian in the head and rode away.

And again in Midtown, two contractors nearly got killed when the rope snapped off their scaffolding while working on a luxury hotel development.

And again in Midtown, a man was rescued by cops during a suicide attempt on the 55th floor of a luxury tower being developed.

In the Upper West Side, a off-duty C.O. shot his uncle to death after they fought inside their car and brawled with each other on the sidewalk.

Also in the Upper West Side at the 103rd St. Station, a man and a woman arguing on the D train escalated when the man pantomimed having a gun and declared he was going to shoot which led to panic among other commuters, leading one to pull the emergency cord, causing a long service delay.

Again in the Upper West Side, a 98-year-old water main broke and flooded the streets by Lincoln Center and the Empire Hotel and caused massive subway delays.

Scenes from a water main break outside Lincoln Center

And again in the Upper West Side at the 96th St. Station, a man took a bunch of MTA service flyers and used them to fashion a swastika on an elevator.

And again in the Upper West Side, a city bus driver crashed his bus into a citibike station. Although it was an accident, thank you anyway sir/madam.

And again in the Upper West Side at the 72nd St. Station, a man suckerpunched a 74-year-old man on the 1 train then got off at the stop.

And again in the Upper West Side, a 72-year-old man was shoved to the ground by a man he was walking by. The mugger then stole his cellphone and walked away, but then went back and knocked him on the pavement again and stole his wallet

And again in the Upper West Side at the 86th St. Station, a 16-year-old boy was attacked by three men who were coming up the stairs as he was going down. The men yanked on the boy’s backpack and caused him to drop his cellphone, which they grabbed. Then one of the skels punched the back of his head and robbed his backpack and jacket.

And again in the Upper West Side at the 72nd St. Station, a man irrationally yelling on the 1 train randomly punches a 74-year-old man in the face.

In Hell’s Kitchen, a man fighting with an 18-year-old on the street then handed a gun to a teenage girl who then shot at his foe in broad daylight and ran away.

Also in Hell’s Kitchen, a stared down inside a bodega between a man and two other men  escalated into an argument and then one of the duo shot the man in the back. Then the wounded man got into a stolen government issued SUV and tried to drive himself to the hospital but wound up crashing into a store window of a car dealership and later died. His killer turned out to be a 17-year-old boy.

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Again in Hell’s Kitchen, a woman walking home was grabbed by a man who then held her up with a box cutter, stole her cellphone and ran away.

In the Upper East Side, a man was found dead with his throat slit inside his apartment, murdered by a man who arranged a date with him on app that day.

Also in the Upper East Side, a man grabbed a woman’s ass and stuck his hands up her shirt while she was standing on a street corner.

Again in the Upper East Side, a transgender woman threatened and forced a man out of his fancy car and drove off. The she wrecked two more cars heading towards the FDR drive where she damaged more vehicles speeding on it. The she gave up driving the car she jacked and threatened another man in his fancy SUV by 42nd St. and stole that one and continued down the expressway wrecking more cars on the way and caused it to flip over. After she survived that she stole another car from a couple she menaced on 34th St. and drove downtown with cops now in pursuit and got nailed when she crashed it into a fence by the Brooklyn Bridge entrance across the street from City Hall.

And again in the Upper East Side, an off-duty fireman strangled his girlfriend during a domestic dispute.

In Columbus Circle, an argument with two homeless men in the subway escalated when one of them took out a pair of scissors stabbed the other man in the shoulder then pushed him onto the tracks.

Also in Columbus Circle, a homeless man died on the D train and was covered in bed bugs.

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From statistics tabulated up to June 2019, the mortality rate of homeless people perishing on the streets and subways went up 28% in the past year.

In the East Village, two men fought with each other when their girlfriends bumped into each other inside a hookah lounge. After the bouncer kicked them out when a glass was thrown, the two men took out their guns and shot at each other, with one of the men getting hit in the chest. Two cops walking a beat nearby Tompkins Square rushed over to respond to the street shooting and told the man who won the duel to put down his weapon. The man refused and walked towards the cops who then shot him down and killed him.

Also in the East Village, a man got stabbed in the neck by a man he was arguing with on the street.

Again in the East Village, a man shot another man on the street with a BB gun.

And again in the East Village, a man attempted suicide by slashing his wrists inside his apartment as cops were about to arrest him on a warrant.

And again in the East Village, a man got into a fight inside a bodega with after he demanded money from him, then the worker pulled out a wooden sword and smacked him on the head with it. Excalibur!

And again in the East Village, and also Union Square and Downtown Manhattan, three boys attacked and robbed the wallets of three app-hail cab drivers on one night.

In the West Village, a woman obstructing a sidewalk whacked a woman in the head with her cane after the victim asked her to move aside.

Also in the West Village, a man randomly punched a woman in the face that walked by him on the sidewalk. After he knocked two of her teeth out, he threw her against a cab then ran away. He then went to Midtown and shoved a woman to the ground and kicked her by the Grand Central Terminal. After he got arrested, the judge released him without bail and this is how he reacted:

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Then he went back to the West Village and menaced more people while panhandling and loitering in front of a bank and got arrested again.

Again in the West Village at the 14th Street Station, a woman threw bleach at another woman’s face and ran away.

And again in the West Village, a man took a cobblestone and bashed a high end clothing store and robbed $15,000 worth of merchandise.

In Chelsea, a man got into an argument with another man in a bar and then was chased by him and five other men on the street. The six men caught him and beat him down. More of a little of that ultraviolence.

Also in Chelsea, an app-food delivery worker got into an argument with a Popeye’s cashier then he smacked his head and choked him.

Again in Chelsea, a man  attacked a man with Alzheimer’s disease on the F train by punching him three times and then proceeded to scream until the train arrived at 23rd St. and he ran out and onto the streets.

And again in Chelsea, a man grabbed a plain clothes cop’s ass inside a 7/11, then challenged him to a fight and got taken down after the cop identified himself.

And again in Chelsea, a man went off on a driver as he accused him of nearly hitting him with his car when he was crossing the street and pulled out a golf club and menaced the driver with it by sticking it in his face. Then the driver, who was an deputy chief in the NYPD, pulled out his gun and that was that.

In Union Square, a man on an e-motored cycle got into a pedestrians face as he was crossing the street and accused him of cutting him off. Then he spat on his face and hit him the hand with a U-lock.

Also in Union Square, a man accosted a 17-year-old boy to buy candy from him then wanted more money when he noticed his bank account on his cellphone screen. Then he and his accomplice threatened to stab him and stole his cellphone and transferred $100 to his own bank account. Then the kid noticed the thief left his identification on there and filmed them on his phone to give to the police.

What that kid should do is not look at his bank account while in the subway or in public. What he really and millions of other should do is not look at their bank records or make transactions on their phones at all.

Again in Union Square, a woman got clobbered by a cushioned lawn chair that fell off a balcony from a luxury apartment building.

And again in Union Square, a man had his dog stolen while he was getting food at a cafe and caught the thief red-handed walking him and feigning like he owned him.

In Downtown Manhattan, a man who killed a pedestrian while driving drunk was released on his own recognizance without bail.

Also in Downtown Manhattan, a group of prisoners started a fire inside a cell at the Tombs.

Again in Downtown Manhattan,at the Park Place Station, a man charged at a woman standing on the platform and hit her with a bike chain as the 2 train arrived and then he jumped on it. The woman, was a police officer, followed him on board and then the man ran out when the train stopped at Chambers St and escaped. Now get this, de Blasio’s NYPD claimed that she wasn’t the target, well then who the fuck was? It’s amazing the lengths they will sink to undermine the severity of these incidents.

And again in Downtown Manhattan, a dead man was found floating in the East River by the Brooklyn Bridge.

And again in Downtown Manhattan at the Brooklyn Bridge Station, a man was awaken from his slumber on the 6 train by the conductor so he attacked him, punching him multiple times in the face.

And again in Downtown Manhattan, an inebriated NYPD lieutenant and police sergeant were caught banging each other in a closet at a government office.

And again in Downtown Manhattan at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse, six men charged with operating a fentanyl distribution mill in an apartment as cops caught them in possession of $7,000,000 worth of the product all were released without bail.

And again in Downtown Manhattan,  a NYC Parks worker was indicted for gun trafficking running weapons through the iron pipeline from Georgia. Including an AR-15 rifle.

And again in Downtown Manhattan at the Chambers St. Station, an entire E train was bombed with graffiti.

In Soho, two men broke into a designer shoe store by smashing the front door and robbed $36,000 worth of merchandise.

Also in Soho, three men effortlessly broke into a designer clothing store and robbed $40,000 worth of winter jackets and coats. Watch yourselves Monclair.

In Noho at the Bleecker St. Station, a homeless man was found dead on the express tracks.

In the Lower East Side, a cop that pulled over a driver for a headlight violation had his leg broken when a hit-and-run drunk driver charged and rear-ended his unmarked car and pinned him against his car and the fancy car he was writing up.

Also in the Lower East Side, a 66-year-old woman was hit by an SUV while crossing the street, which was followed by a rescue by dozens of Samaritans.

Again in the Lower East Side, a man sneaked up behind an 83-year-old woman walking with a cane and placed her in a headlock and forces her onto the pavement and snatches her purse. The suspect was eventually arrested, arraigned and released without bail because this is not violent enough to get you locked up until the trial.

In Chinatown, a 91-year-old man was killed while walking in the crosswalk as a driver in a government-issued fancy car hit him while turning.

In Washington Heights, a man wanted for three sexual assaults in one day, committed four more four days later, pulling his victims skirts up and grabbing their privates.

Also in Washington Heights, a man got stabbed in the stomach and died while defending his friend who got punched in the face by his killer.

Again in Washington Heights, a man celebrating his birthday at a restaurant got into a tussle when one of his friends bumped into another man then escalated into a brawl between them. Then a woman hands the man a gun and shoots the man in the chest and kills him and hits a woman in the leg with a stray bullet.

And again in Washington Heights at the 155th St. Station, a man accosted a transgender woman sitting on the C train then he spit on her and slapped her in the face after he insulted her. Then a woman accompanying him smacked the woman’s phone out of her hand when she tried to photograph her attacker.

In East Harlem, a man held up two boys at gunpoint as he and his pals stole their bikes.

Also in East Harlem, two men chasing a 19-year-old man on the street grabbed him in front of a bodega and cut him with cane sword. The victim ran inside the store and was protected by workers who called the cops. Once again, New York’s tale of two cities Mayor de Blasio once cited has turned into A Clockwork Orange.

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Again in East Harlem, a man shot another man in the leg on the street while on parole.

In Harlem Heights, four men in masks rushed into a store and tried to hold it up at gunpoint, then they left when they couldn’t get through the door and the glass partition to get to the worker.

In NoMad, a man walloped two traffic cops from behind with a metal pipe after they gave him a parking summons on his pick-up truck.

In Greenwich Village at the 14th St. Station on the PATH tracks, a woman fell off the platform and onto the tracks as the train arrived and ran her over and severed her legs off.

In Times Square, a man got into a Hasidic couples’ faces and yelled bigoted slurs at them.

In Herald Square, a man fell onto the tracks and got killed by the arriving Q train.

Also in Herald Square, a man jumped onto the F and M local trackbed and wandered around like a shithead on the tracks for about an hour, which caused massive delays and train lines to be rerouted during the evening rush.

In Grand Central Station, a man snatched a wallet out of an 88-year-old man’s hand while waiting for the train on the platform.

Also in Grand Central Station, a man and a woman atta three people and robbed them of $240.

In Hudson Yards, a 19-year-old college athlete committed suicide by jumping off the top of the ugly art structure. An eyewitness remarked that if someone wanted to kill him/herself that would be the place to do it. Soon it might be called the Suicide Shawarama.

In the Diamond District, a pawnshop was raided by cops for trafficking stolen goods.

In Kips Bay, a comedy nite club received death threats after a comedian made jokes base on Kobe Bryant’s rape trial.

In Hamilton Heights, a bunch of homeless people built a mattress and blanket shanty village, taking up dwelling underneath the West Side Highway underpass.

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Robberies and larcenies went up 33% last year in Central Park.

Bronx

 

In Soundview, a man and woman got into a brawl on the 6 train as the man punched her and threw her on the seats. The woman kicked him a few times then the man picked her up and threw to the floor causing him to drop his cellphone. Then the woman starts to kick his ass as he picked it up. The man then wallops her and grabs her by the hair and drags her on the floor then off the train at the Elders Ave. Staition where he kicks her in the mid-section and walks away.

Also in Soundview, a man was shot to death at an apartment resided by the killer’s ex-girlfriend at the Bronx River Houses by a man

Again in Soundview, at the Elders Ave. Station, a man attacked a woman and her son on the platform as he tried to assault the boy first then punched his mother in the face as she tried to defend him. The man ran away and is still at large.

And again in Soundview, two men hopped into a livery car in a parking lot and held him up at knifepoint and robbed him of $60 and his cellphone. They also mugged another livery car driver in the same lot the next day.

In Kingsbridge Heights, a NYCHA worker that received numerous complaints from residents of the Fort Independence Houses for doing a lousy job with maintenance and not doing it at all and also for making lewd comments to women, shot his supervisor three times in his office after he chastised the lazy lout for his insubordinate shiftlessness and sexual harassment. Despite complaints to the city’s public housing agency, the insubordinate derelict continued to work there with impunity as an agent of NYCHA’s continuing demolition by neglect policy, even while under a federal monitor.

In Kingsbridge, a man walked down the stairs that were featured in a comic book movie and then randomly punched a sanitation worker who standing on a sidewalk.

In Tremont at the 175th St. Station, a man pressed a knife on a woman and robbed her debit cards and six bucks.

In Parkchester, a woman impersonating a security guard and three men invaded an apartment and beat up the resident and robbed her two Ipads, a handbag, a tablet and her wallet and also stole her friends cellphone.

Also in Parkchester, four cops responding to a shooting crashed their NYPD cruisers into each other and wound up hospitalized. This is some Police Academy 6 shit right here.

In Claremont Village, a man got into an argument with another man in front of a liquor store, then he took out a gun and shot him to death.

In Melrose, a man rode a bike up next to a 17-year-old girl and told her he was going to pick her up, then he rode his bike and grabbed her ass as she was trying to get away from him.

Also in Melrose, a woman was found dead inside her and her mother’s apartment at the Jackson Houses.

In Morrisania, two men held up a man going into his apartment at gunpoint then robbed two safes inside containing $50,000.

In Morris Heights, four men surrounded a food delivery guy on the sidewalk, then one of them punched him and stole the bag he was delivering.

In Mott Haven, a man jumped onto the the court and fired a gun at the crowd during a basketball game inside a heralded gym widely known for it’s successful youth b-ball program, causing a stampede of people trying to escape. The gunmen fled and has not been found. This unprecedented incident happened on MLK Day while there was an event in his honor.

Also in Mott Haven, a man was busted possessing a loaded gun and BB-gun plus 2 stun guns and knives and tried to trick cops by saying he was a C.O. with his fake badge.

Again in Mott Haven, a woman ripped off $20 from an 84-year-old woman’s hand while she was trying to purchase something in a bodega.

In Belmont, a man placed under an order of protection by his wife kidnapped their one-year-old daughter and drove away with her in a van with no plates.

In Fordham Manor, a man threatened a traffic cop when he was writing a ticket on his friend’s car and then he ripped the badge off his uniform.

In Throggs Neck, 14 shots were fired into the sky in front of the new headquarters of the Hells Angels, who have only been in the town for a few weeks.

In Grand Concourse, a man shoplifted four boxes of diapers then held up a syringe to a worker who tried to stop him and escaped.

In Fordham, a man sexually molested a 14-year-old girl in an apartment building lobby by grabbing her ass multiple times.

In Fordham Heights, a man shot another man to death on the street after a dispute about money, blasting him in the torso twice and once in the head. The deceased was walking with another man before the shooting then ran away with the killer.

Also in Fordham Heights, a man threw caustic liquid at traffic cop’s face who was writing him a ticket and then drove away.

Again in Fordham Heights, a man committed four burglaries in a one month spree where he used a crowbar to gain access where he broke into a grocery store and stole $18,000 in cash and lottery tickets. 10 days later he pried into the back door of a chain eyewear store and robbed $8,000 then dug into a wall leading to the store next door and stole 100 bucks. Then he dug a hole in a wall of a cellphone store and stole a laptop and tools and followed it up the next day prying a lock off a basement door of a grocery store and stole $180 worth of beer, surely to celebrate his great success in thievery.

And again in Fordham Heights, a man pulled a bat out of his trunk and attacked a man for stealing a parking spot.

In Williamsbridge, a man murdered his one-month-old son by suffocating him with a pillow.

In University Heights at the Burnside Ave. Station, a drunk man left his year and a half old son on the platform and boarded the 4 train and passed out. Then he woke up in Harlem and got off at the 125th Station and went to the cops to report his child missing.

In Highbridge, a man in bounty hunter cosplay was caught in possession of a bullet proof vest, a body cam and a bb gun by Yankee Stadium.

Also in Highbridge, four men jumped a 16-year-old boy on the sidewalk and robbed his cellphone. One of the suspects was also involved in three other gang muggings in the past two months of another teenage male and two other men.

Again in Highbridge at the Mount Eden Station, a woman committed suicide by jumping in front of the 4 train.

In Crotona Park, a man broke into a car by smashing a window and robbed a laptop, a watch and other valuables inside of it.

Staten Island

On the Staten Island Expressway, a Vin Diesel wannabe crashed his car into a median like Paul Walker during a race with another driver.

In Tottenville, a man forced his way into a woman’s home and forced himself upon her while her granddaughter was there then ran out the door when she screamed.

In West Brighton, a man broke into a bagel shop and robbed cash from various hiding places and tore down a bi-fold door.

In Mariners Harbor, a man barged into a barber shop and shot a man in the arm and fled.

Also in Mariners Harbor, a man threw a piece of rebar at a city bus and broke the windshield following a fight he had when he was on it.

Again in Mariners Harbor, a man robbed another man on the street at gunpoint.

And again in Mariners Harbor, a man pulled over by cops for smoking weed while driving was caught with gun possession.

And again in Mariners Harbor, a man got shot by another man during a fight on the street.

In North Shore, a woman was robbed of her purse and ignition key that she left in her car while she was getting food to feed some cats by her house. The thief took a cinderblock and smashed the drivers window and snatched the items from her car seat.

In Greenridge, a man and a woman broke into a house at midnight while the resident was still there and didn’t rob anything but damaged the door frame and the notorious Ring doorbell.

In Great Kills, a man held up a chain pharmacy and grocery store at gunpoint and the cashier emptied the register for him.

A man picked up a woman he met bar hopping in Astoria and drove her to his house in Staten Island and raped her.

In Arden Heights, a man brutally beat up his girlfriend at his house and was found to be in possession of an air rifle and ammunition when police showed up to arrest him.

In New Springville, a cop got injured while arresting a suspect who violently resisted to be cuffed.

In Charleston, an argument between two strippers at a jiggle joint escalated when one of them beat down the other using brass knuckles.

In Stapleton, three men were caught looting a refrigerator from an apartment.

Also in Stapleton, a man stabbed a woman in her hip behind an apartment building at the Stapleton Houses

Again in Stapleton, gunfire broke out on the grounds of the Stapleton Houses with rounds hitting a parked car and a security gate.

In Prince’s Bay, a townhouse on fire spread to five neighboring homes, injuring nine firefighters and a tenant.

In Donghan Hills, a 70-year-old man walloped a man on his head and hand with his cane who was about to serve him legal papers for his divorce at his front door.

In Midland Beach, a man broke into a church then a house nearby attempting to rob them. The man was hit with four charges and released without bail.

On the Verrazzano Bridge, a container truck crashed into a tanker truck on the upper level road according to the stunning traffic reporter Marisa Torres.

And the 120 Pct. irrationally seized 275 pounds of pot and thousands of weed vapor cartridges during a raid on a house even though it’s being considered for legalization this year. Then they took a picture of the haul with a massive police protest flag and a smaller and damaged American flag in the background, unwittingly showing who and what they rather serve and protect.

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As this post shows, seven serious crimes have rose in the five boroughs in January compared to last year. Shootings went up by nearly half, robberies went up by a third and significant spikes went up in other felonies like auto theft, burglaries, felony and misdemeanor assaults and grand and petit larcenies.

NYPD, prosecutors, and some elected state officials have tied to these troubling spikes in crime to the bail and criminal justice reform laws that were just passed and recidivist criminals are easily taking advantage of them. Which is true, but the fact of the matter is that they only exacerbated the crime rate stats that have been moderately rising in the past decade (at least the ones that were reported on accurately).

Even Mayor de Blasio has got the hint and has tied the deformed reform laws to city crime’s upward trajectory. But he is only doing that now because he always defers responsibility whenever stats or events make him look and confirm what a weak ass lousy mayor he is. It’s good that he acknowledges this too, but he unwittingly also confirms that the New Bad Days are officially here.

And that is what that is.

Be aware of your surroundings, safest big city.