One of the most liberal candidates in New York City 's upcoming mayoral race, Maya Wiley, is surging into second place according to ...
One of the most liberal candidates in New York City's upcoming mayoral race, Maya Wiley, is surging into second place according to some polls, with progressive groups coalescing behind her.
Wiley's 'defund the police' platform is worrying some New Yorkers as the city faces a summer crime wave with random attacks on fearful residents both in the streets and on the city's subway.
In what could have been her chance to put those fears to rest, during a final debate between the candidates earlier this week, Wiley decided not to raise her hand when the candidates were asked if they would put more cops on subway cars, despite a violent rise in stabbings and attacks.
Meanwhile, Eric Adams, a former NYPD captain, has maintained his No. 1 ranking in the most recent polls for the Democratic mayoral primary.
He doesn't support defunding the police.
New York Mayoral candidate Maya Wiley is gaining in the latest mayoral poll
A new poll puts Adams out in front for next week's primary election but with Maya Wiley surging into second place from third. The mayoral election is set for November
Earlier in her campaign, Wiley was forced to deny that she intends to disarm NYPD cops after refusing to commit to a position during an earlier debate.
Wiley - a former de Blasio administration official and member of the Civilian Complaint Review Board - presents herself as a reformer, and advocates cutting one billion dollars from the NYPD's budget and reform how the department operates.
Wiley, who has been endorsed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Elizabeth Warren, responded at the time: 'I am not prepared to make that decision in a debate.
'I am going to have a civilian commissioner and a civilian commission that is going to hold the police accountable and ensure we're safe from crime but also from police violence,' she said.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks at a rally last week where she endorsed progressive candidates, including Maya Wiley, in upcoming election for city wide offices in City Hall Park
Wiley is also supported by the Working Families Party who announced she was their favored candidate having pulled its support for two other progressives on the ballot, Comptroller Scott Stringer and Dianne Morale.
A recent poll by PIX-11 suggested 23% of voters would choose Adams, followed by 18% for Wiley.
Former city Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia came third with 17%. Yang was just behind in fourth with 14%.
During the last poll on May 25 Wiley drew in just 9% of respondents.
She has spoken openly of her plans to overhaul the New York Police Department that she claims is filled with bureaucratic waste.
Wiley has said she wants to move $1 billion from its budget to community resources.
She also plans to appoint a civilian as the NYPD commissioner and reduce the department's 35,000 officers by roughly 2,500.
'Black and brown New Yorkers both experience higher crime rates, lower resolution in solving crime and more bad experiences with police officers,' Wiley said to the Wall Street Journal during an interview.
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea has said the department is including hiring more people of color as officers and has urged against spending cuts.
Amid a deluge of criticism, Wiley has attempted to insist that she does not intend to strip cops of their service weapons.
Elsewhere, Wiley has promised to create more affordable housing and improve education inequity in public schools.
In her five-year, $10 billion spending plan called 'New Deal New York' she claims she would be able to help the city recover from the pandemic through development, infrastructure repairs and the creation of 100,000 jobs.
Four of the other candidates, Eric Adams, Kathryn Garcia, Scott Stringer and Andrew Yang, have pledged to bolster the NYPD.
Violent crimes across NYC are spiking at a worrying rate and all of the candidates are campaigning on the issue. The Manhattan South police district, seen in the above charts, covers the key tourist area in and around Times Square
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