(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Is New York City the hellscape Republicans say it is? [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-11 Bryant Park, Manhattan If your truth is Republican propaganda, you will believe New York City is a satanic blend of homicidal turmoil and official indifference to skyrocketing crime rates. Guest after guest on Fox News warns that Sodom-on-the-Hudson is a place where life is cheap, and life expectancy for visitors is comparable to that of World War I combatants. Yet Fox News maintains its headquarters and broadcast studios on 6th Ave. in Midtown Manhattan. That might be your first clue that all is not as dire as conservative mouthpieces suggest. Over 60 million tourists will visit the City this year. Almost every single one of them will make it out alive. New York City leads the nation in many things. However, it is way down the leaderboard in crime. There are 58 cities (populations over 200,000) that have higher violent crime rates than America's most famous metropolis. And 95 cities that have a higher property crime rate. Frequently a map of “New York City” will only include the southern end of Manhattan As far as tourists are concerned, an already bright picture becomes even rosier. Crime is not spread equally throughout the city. When most people think of New York, they imagine Manhattan south of 96th Street. That is where most of the city's landmarks, notable hotels, museums, and theaters are. Even within New York, when people living in the Outer Boroughs refer to ‘The City,’ they mean the lower half of Manhattan. And there, crime is even lower than the city's average. In the NYPD breakdown of crime by borough, statistics show only 3 murders (YTD) in Manhattan South — 20 in the entire borough . This small number is remarkable considering that, with a population of 1.63 million , Manhattan would be the 5th largest city in the US. If you add commuters, Manhattan’s daytime population nearly doubles to 3.1 million. Republicans ignore these statistics. Jim Jordan, who legendarily turned a blind eye to sex crimes right under his nose in the Ohio State men's locker rooms, is tweeting complete lies in his war on Alvin Bragg Jr., Manhattan District Attorney. Jordan is pissed Bragg has indicted a likely criminal (aka former President Donald Trump) for felony falsification of business records to hide his short-lasting sex with a pornstar from Melania and the voters. x Alvin Bragg’s radical pro-crime, anti-victim policies have led to an increase in violent crime in New York City. Next week, the Judiciary Committee will examine these policies during a field hearing in Manhattan. — Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) April 10, 2023 There is no increase in violent crime in New York City. Murder is down 9.9%. Rape is down 7.5%. Robbery is down 3.5%. I will grant you that felonious assault is up 8.5% (unlike conservatives, I will not cherry-pick). On the other hand, burglary is down 7.8%, and grand larceny is flat. One-time NY Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan famously said, “You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts.” The GOP has no use for that rebuke. Republicans do not heed a moral code. They are not bound by honesty. They are the party of “alternative facts.” Another New Yorker, freshman and soon-to-be one-term Representative George Santos, is legendary for abject dishonesty, but he is little different from the rest of his teammates. If he were, GOP leadership would not have given him spots on the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee and the Small Business Committee. Note: Santos is no longer on those Committees — not because McCarthy stripped him of his positions, but because he voluntarily stepped down. Jordan, over-confident due to his history of picking on the powerless, has taken on someone willing and capable of fighting back. Bragg responded to Jim’s lies with some hard truths. In a tweet, he pointed out the high crime rates of various Ohio cities. He then administered the coup de grâce. “If Chairman Jordan truly cared about public safety, he could take a short drive to Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Akron, or Toledo in his home state instead of using taxpayer dollars to travel hundreds of miles out of his way.” If Jordan thought he would get away with a verbal spanking, he miscalculated. Bragg followed up his words with action. He has sued Jordan and his Committee for "an unconstitutional attempt to undermine" a state investigation. Jordan is planning a field trip to the belly of the beast — how brave of him. On Monday at 9 am, he will ask some witnesses to describe their terrible experiences at the hands of the criminal hordes wandering the streets of Gotham. No doubt their testimony will be vivid. But anecdotes — even true ones — are not evidence. Jordan will follow up with a presser, in which he will highlight these tales of woe. He may well stop by the Fox building to lie to a larger audience. And then, performance over, he will slink back to DC - while Ohioans will continue to live in a state where they are 67% more likely to be murdered than in New York. And New Yorkers will greet Jim’s look-at-me tour with a Bronx cheer and ask, “Who’s that fucking idiot?” [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/11/2163379/-Is-New-York-City-the-hellscape-Republicans-say-it-is Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/