ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo told President Trump there’s no need to send federal authorities to New York City to help tackle crime.
The governor said Wednesday he spoke to Trump a day earlier about his threat to send federal law enforcement officers to the Big Apple and told the president that he thinks the situation in the city is under control.
“I said that I was also concerned about the increase in crime in New York City and that people in New York City are concerned about the increasing crime,” Cuomo said during a press call with reporters. “I also said that at this point I think the situation can be managed by the state to the extent anything can be done.”
The pair talked Tuesday, after Trump complained that crime is up in his hometown and said the NYPD is “afraid to do anything.”
“We can’t let this happen to the cities. New York was up 348%, the crime wave,” he said. “So the governor has to do something about it. And if the governor is not going to do something about it, we’ll do something about it.”
Trump has taken heat for deploying federal officers to quell growing protests in Portland, Oregon, where looting has taken place and rioters have targeted federal buildings.
The president said he’s considering sending feds to Chicago and other cities that have seen a recent spike in crime.
Cuomo called New York City “a creature of state law” and said he could declare a public safety emergency that would allow the state government to bring in additional resources or “do what we need to do to address the emergency.”
“I am concerned. We are working with the city,” he said. “The state is willing and able to do what it needs to do; it falls within the jurisdiction of the state.”
It wasn’t clear what exactly would prompt the governor to declare such an emergency.
In response to Trump’s comments, Mayor de Blasio said the city would go to court to prevent the federal government from deploying authorities in the five boroughs.
“It is way too much about the politics of the moment, I believe unfortunately the president is using this as a photo op for his own political needs, not as an act of addressing complicated matters in our city,” the mayor said. “If we see these federal officers on our streets, then we will see the Trump Administration in court to stop it from happening.”
Early Wednesday, NYPD officers moved to clear out an encampment of protesters who have taken over a park near City Hall in recent weeks. The demonstrators are calling for the defunding of the police department.
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