A chilling wave of lawlessness continues to grip New York City, highlighted by the recent knifepoint rape of a woman in Central Park on a Saturday night. This heinous attack, occurring at 8:30 PM near Fifth Avenue and East 66th Street, marks the fifth such horrific incident in the park this year alone.
Cops rushed to Central Park on Saturday after receiving reports a woman had been assaulted. Robert Mecea for NY Post
NYPD has released surveillance images of a man wanted over a rape that allegedly happened in Central Park on Saturday.
Cops sealed off a wooded area of Central Park after finding a woman who had been fatally stabbed.
Yet, as predators roam unchecked and public safety collapses, New York City officials have chosen an unfathomable path: funneling millions of taxpayer dollars into a class-action settlement for criminals who endured 'malodorous' cells.
The city has agreed to pay a staggering sum, initially $21.5 million, which has now ballooned to $35.475 million. This payout is for individuals held in city lockups, some for merely a few hours, between April 2017 and March 2023. Advertisements, boldly displayed in subway cars, promise 'compensation' to those who shared cells with cockroaches and rodents.
These ads, titled 'LEGAL NOTICE. CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT,' declare: "The City of New York has agreed to pay up to $21,500,000 into a settlement fund." The city was so eager to distribute these funds that the list of potential beneficiaries exploded, with an additional 76,630 individuals identified – bringing the total to 'hundreds of thousands' eligible for up to $475 per short detention, plus $120 for expenses. All this for the 'suffering' of a few hours in a holding cell.
While court filings describe truly putrid conditions – exposed, overflowing toilets caked with feces, vomit, and urine, and moldy, inedible food – the beneficiaries often include those who participated in the destructive 2020 BLM riots. These are the same individuals who, in many cases, already reaped $10,000 each from an earlier class action lawsuit against the city. It seems New York’s 'justice' system is a revolving door, not just for criminals but for financial windfalls.
This cascade of taxpayer-funded payouts is no accident. It’s a direct legacy of Bill de Blasio’s mayoralty, an era where accountability vanished. Remember Thrive NYC, then-First Lady Chirlane McCray’s mental health initiative that somehow managed to waste $1.5 billion over six years with zero transparency or results? That program, now infamous for fixing nothing, served as a flashing neon light to 'fraudsters, grifters, chancers, and profiteers' that New York City was an 'easy mark.'
The numbers speak for themselves: city payouts in lawsuit settlements and judgments rocketed from $970 million in 2021 to nearly $2 billion in 2024. As Queens Republican Councilwoman Vickie Paladino sharply observed, 'There is a deliberate and coordinated effort to funnel tax dollars to progressive-aligned activist organizations, and these outlandish settlements are a major corridor for it.'
And who is orchestrating this grand redistribution of taxpayer wealth? None other than Mayor Mamdani’s top lawyer, Corporation Counsel Steven Banks. The same Steven Banks who spent three decades at the Legal Aid Society, launching lawsuits against the city, now serves as the city’s chief counsel. A stunning display of the swamp draining itself, by filling the pockets of 'the right people in the right law firms and the right nonprofits.' The lawyers in this latest class action, Giskan Solotaroff & Anderson and others, are already guaranteed $2.95 million, plus up to $500,000 for the administrator, and are now 'demanding additional Attorney’s Fees.' The city’s lawyer and the lawyers suing the city are, apparently, on the same side. The joke, as always, is on the hardworking New York taxpayer.
Adding to the bewildering state of affairs, a new poll confirms what many conservatives have long suspected: 'Trump Derangement Syndrome' (TDS) is a verifiable affliction. A national survey by TechnoMetrica/TIPP revealed a stunning 53% of Democrats admit to suffering from TDS, along with 35% of Independents and even 25% of Republicans. Symptoms, described by over a third of voters who know sufferers, include 'emotional stress, anger or agitation in response to appearances or events involving Donald Trump,' refusing to socialize with Trump supporters, obsession, and even 'threatening or violent behavior.' Psychiatrist Dr. Carole Lieberman is now advocating for TDS to be included in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. It seems the establishment media’s relentless attacks have had a profound, and disturbing, psychological impact.
Meanwhile, amidst this urban decay and political absurdity, a glimmer of hope for common sense emerges in Upper Manhattan. Mayor Zohran Mamdani's ubiquitous video screens blare a message that undermines election integrity: 'Voting is easy and safe,' he asserts, adding, 'You don't need to bring anything with you to the polls. We’ll even give you a pen.' This thinly veiled invitation to vote without proper identification, with the implicit assurance that 'ICE won’t be there to catch you if you cheat,' has drawn sharp criticism.
Caroline Shinkle, an energetic 33-year-old Republican lawyer campaigning for Jerry Nadler's old House seat in NY-12, doesn't mince words: 'Does that mean we don’t need to bring our brains to vote either?' she quipped. 'IDs to shovel snow, but no ID to exercise one of our most sacred rights as American citizens… It is this type of nonsensical thinking that has prompted so many lifelong Democrats to cross the aisle to support me.' Shinkle sees a 'huge realignment' brewing in this traditionally liberal, and significantly Jewish, district – a powerful rejection of the progressive agenda that has brought chaos and decline. Voters are beginning to realize that when common sense is discarded, they truly have nothing left to lose.
New York City stands at a crossroads, plagued by a leadership that prioritizes coddling criminals and undermining foundational values over protecting its citizens and upholding the rule of law. The ongoing financial giveaways to those who disrupt society, coupled with attacks on election integrity, highlight a city desperate for a return to American principles of accountability, public safety, and common sense. It's time for New Yorkers to demand leadership that truly puts their safety and future first.
