Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s claim that crime rates in New York City are rising due to poverty is “factually impossible” in a presser Tuesday evening.
Rep. Ocasio Cortez had previously claimed that crime rates are on the rise because New York City residents are struggling to pay their rent.
"Do we think this has to do with the fact that there’s record unemployment in the United States right now?" AOC said."The fact that people are at a level of economic desperation that we have not seen since the Great Recession?"
"Maybe this has to do with the fact that people aren't paying their rent & are scared to pay their rent," she went on. "They need to feed their child and they don't have money so... they feel like they either need to shoplift some bread or go hungry."
But according to Cuomo, that's just not true, largely because of the rent protections put in place during the COVID pandemic.
“People have theories. An incorrect theory doesn’t wind up being correct because there’s a void. I think there are a number of contributing factors,” Gov. Cuomo said.
“It is factually impossible that somebody committed a crime so they could pay their rent. If you can’t pay your rent, you cannot be evicted right now,” the governor added.
Cuomo refutes AOC: "It's factually impossible that somebody committed a crime so they could pay their rent." pic.twitter.com/0SKOYUe0NP
— The Hill (@thehill) July 14, 2020
Another 17 people were shot in the city Monday and shootings have increased by 130 percent in June alone. Surveillance footage showed a man being shot in broad daylight while walking with his six-year-old daughter
All of this comes after the New York City council cut the NYPD budget by one billion and retirements have surged by 400 percent.
(Cover Photo: Diana Robinson)