A day after Mayor Eric Adams repeated his message that the migrant disaster would destroy New York Metropolis, he appeared intent on proving his level.
Mr. Adams, a former police captain, placed on a bulletproof vest with a Fendi scarf tucked beneath it on Monday and accompanied an early-morning police raid within the Bronx, tied to a significant theft ring the place lots of the members have been believed to be latest migrants.
Police officers known as it the “largest theft sample plaguing town,” with a gaggle of thieves on mopeds or scooters snatching cellphones and purses in at the least 62 incidents, most involving feminine victims.
The police mentioned the thieves have been “migrants who’ve just lately arrived in america,” and who “predominantly dwell within the migrant shelter system.”
Mr. Adams’s participation, promoted by the Police Division’s social media account, amplified the notion that the surge of migrants was wreaking havoc on town. However critics, together with immigration advocates, known as the raid a political gimmick and mentioned it was a troubling escalation of Mr. Adams’s xenophobic rhetoric towards migrants during the last 12 months.
“His most up-to-date stunt with the N.Y.P.D. sends the mistaken form of message to New Yorkers about our latest arrivals and incites concern of police amongst asylum seekers,” mentioned Murad Awawdeh, government director of the New York Immigration Coalition.
Nonetheless, the mayor’s police commissioner, Edward A. Caban, mentioned at a information convention on Monday that “a wave of migrant crime has washed over our metropolis.”
Late final month, a police officer and a lieutenant sustained minor accidents after being attacked in Occasions Sq. by a gaggle of males who, in accordance with a legislation enforcement official, have been latest migrants who lived at city-provided shelters.
And Mr. Adams, a Democrat getting into his third 12 months in workplace with a dismal approval score, has repeatedly thrown himself into the nationwide debate over the migrant disaster. He appeared on Monday to welcome a possibility to point out that he was holding migrants who commit crimes accountable.
“Generals lead from the entrance,” Mr. Adams mentioned at a information convention.
The raid was carried out on the house of Victor Parra, 30, a Venezuelan accused of coordinating the robberies. The police mentioned they consider that Mr. Parra entered the nation final 12 months and recruited latest migrants who nonetheless dwell in shelters.
Officers found 22 stolen telephones on the residence, Joseph Kenny, the chief of detectives, mentioned on the information convention. Mr. Parra was not house, and there’s a warrant out for his arrest.
In textual content messages on the messaging platform WhatsApp, Mr. Parra would inform his crew what sort of telephones he was on the lookout for, then textual content the group, “‘I’ve cash, I’m obtainable, go get ‘em,’” Chief Kenny mentioned. Mr. Parra paid between $300 and $600 for each stolen cellphone and gave them to an confederate who hacked into the cellphone house owners’ financial institution accounts, Kenny mentioned.
The migrant disaster has introduced an infinite problem for Mr. Adams. The mayor has blamed finances cuts to libraries and different key metropolis providers on town’s excessive prices of caring for migrants and mentioned final September that the migrant disaster would destroy town.
On Monday, Mr. Adams tried to reassure New Yorkers that the overwhelming majority of migrants observe the legislation.
“A small variety of individuals are breaking the legislation and having a big impact on our public security, and that’s the reason we zeroed in on them,” Mr. Adams mentioned.
It’s not identified what number of crimes have been dedicated by latest migrants, nevertheless it doesn’t seem that they’ve contributed to a extreme enhance in crime. Felonies stay decrease in 2024 than final 12 months, and petty and grand larcenies are principally unchanged, in accordance with police information.
But in a nationwide tv interview on Sunday with CBS, Mr. Adams was requested if he stood by his feedback that the migrant disaster would destroy New York Metropolis. “Definitely,” he mentioned and continued his pleas for extra federal help for cities.
The message appeared to resonate with a gaggle of Republican elected officers who gathered in Occasions Sq. on Monday to attract consideration to the latest assault that the police mentioned was dedicated by migrants. The officers known as for town to work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deport these accountable.
When Mr. Adams was requested if he ought to dial again his rhetoric on migrants as a result of it might damage President Biden, he mentioned that it was his job to battle on behalf of New Yorkers.
“This isn’t anti-Biden,” he mentioned. “There are failures on all sides of the aisle.”
Basil Smikle, director of the Public Coverage Program at Hunter School, mentioned he couldn’t recall both of Mr. Adams’s latest predecessors, Invoice de Blasio or Michael R. Bloomberg, occurring the same police raid. He believed that Mr. Adams was most likely making an attempt to bolster his tough-on-crime picture after a political defeat final week in a showdown with the Metropolis Council over two prison justice payments.
“I believe the timing is de facto essential right here — he’s making an attempt to point out solidarity with the Police Division within the wake of the overriding of his veto,” Mr. Smikle mentioned.
