Former “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace cornered Democrat New York City Mayor Eric Adams during a recent CNN interview, pushing back on his claims that “perception” was making the skyrocketing crime rates in his city appear worse than they really were.
Wallace, who left Fox News after nearly two decades just last year, spoke to Adams as part of his new interview-based series, “Who’s Talking To Chris Wallace?” — and the topic turned to the dramatic uptick in violent crime that has impacted multiple American cities, not the least of which being the Big Apple.
WATCH:
Chris Wallace Confronts NYC Mayor Eric Adams With Increased Crime Stats: 'That's Not Perception That's Reality' https://t.co/45if3GYkMP via @mediaite pic.twitter.com/p6EHIF4B9g
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“We have an average of less than six crimes a day on a subway system with 3.5 million riders. But if you write your story based on a narrative, then you’re going to look at the worst of those six crimes and put it on the front pages of your paper every day,” Adams began, first blaming media for creating a narrative that made his city look more dangerous. “So I have to deal with those six crimes a day, felony crimes, and the perception of fear.”
Adams went on to say that his team had successfully decreased gun violence in the city, claiming that officials had taken “over 5,700 guns” off the streets and made a number of arrests on gun crimes.
“We are attacking the problem exactly the way I stated,” he said.
“You’re saying that the crime problem in this city is more perception than reality?” Wallace asked.
“No, it’s a combination of both. New Yorkers must be safe,” Adams replied.
“But Mayor, the New York City crime statistics are that year to date, crime in the subways is up 41% over the same period last year, and serious crime, major felonies, are up even more than that,” Wallace pushed back. “That’s not perception. That’s reality.”
“If you do an analysis of the six major cities in America, the crime waves is tackling all of our cities. New York City is the safest,” Adams insisted. “So yes, we have a real crime problem that we’re addressing. But part of that is the perception that every day, those six crimes are being highlighted over and over again.”
Adams continued to reference the “six crimes” he said were occurring daily within the city’s subway system but did not mention that crime had been ticking upward outside of the public transit system as well. The New York Police Department released crime statistics in July of 2022 and determined that the city’s overall crime rate was up 30.5% year-over-year. Additionally, shooting incidents were up 13.4%, and murders were up 34.3%.