Gov. Hochul speaks in Harlem Tuesday morning, asserting that NYC has seen a 12% drop in retail theft during the last yr
Picture by Darren McGee/ Workplace of Governor Kathy Hochul
Gov. Kathy Hochul on Tuesday defended New York’s bail system and pointed to falling retail theft numbers as proof that “crime is down” someday after President Donald Trump signed an govt order threatening to chop off federal funding to states he claims have “dangerous” bail insurance policies.
Trump’s order, signed Monday, directs U.S. Legal professional Common Pam Bondi to compile a listing of jurisdictions that the president claims “substantially eliminated” money bail for crimes equivalent to violent assaults, intercourse offenses, housebreaking, looting, and vandalism. He asserted that these insurance policies, in his view, “pose a clear threat to public safety and order.”
Though New York has not but been formally named as a jurisdiction, the White Home has repeatedly highlighted instances involving repeat offenders launched beneath the state’s bail legal guidelines. “It started in New York, and it’s been a horrible thing for crime,” Trump reportedly mentioned within the Oval Workplace.
At a press convention in Harlem on Tuesday morning, Hochul rejected Trump’s claims, stressing that New York doesn’t have a cashless bail system.
“The President’s wrong. He’s flat out wrong. We don’t have cashless bail in the state of New York,” Hochul mentioned.
She pointed to modifications made for the reason that 2019 reforms initially eradicated bail for misdemeanors and non-violent felonies. Later revisions expanded the checklist of bail-eligible crimes and gave judges extra discretion to detain repeat offenders.
At a press convention in Harlem on Tuesday morning, Gov. Kathy Hochul rejected President Trump’s claims, stressing that New York doesn’t have a cashless bail system. “The President’s wrong. He’s flat out wrong. We don’t have cashless bail in the state of New York,” Hochul mentioned.Darren McGee/ Workplace of Governor Kathy Hochul
Hochul mentioned the issue is just not the legislation, however judges failing to use it.
“I’ve been surprised at the number of judges who don’t seem to know the law has changed,” she mentioned, including that they should “step up.”
The governor tied these legislative modifications to crime developments, asserting on Aug. 26 that retail theft in New York Metropolis fell 12% over the previous yr.
Since March 2024, she mentioned, greater than 1,000 arrests have been made in organized retail theft instances, with hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in merchandise recovered. Hochul mentioned her administration has invested almost $3 billion in public security, expanded joint operations with the NYPD and provided tax credit to assist small companies purchase cameras and safety programs.
Standing guard amid falling crime in New York
Hochul mentioned she spoke privately with Trump just a few days about to clarify the intricacies of New York’s bail legal guidelines and to push again on the prospect of him deploying the Nationwide Guard.
“Mr. President, I can give you all the data you need to show that crime is down. It’s working. Our policies are working. The NYPD is doing its job. We did our job in the state legislature to tighten up laws… serious crimes are down,” she mentioned she instructed him.
Hochul mentioned she additionally instructed Trump his earlier options that he would deploy the Nationwide Guard to NYC to battle crime was pointless.
“There’s no reason for them to come here. I know where to find it here in New York. I’ve got what I need,” she mentioned.
When requested in regards to the distinction to Trump’s method in Washington, D.C., along with her deployment of the Guard to subway stations earlier this yr, she mentioned her use of troops was “wildly different” as a result of they served solely as a visual presence to calm anxious commuters, to not implement legal guidelines.
“They had a calming effect,” she mentioned. In contrast, she mentioned Trump’s deployment in DC has seen troops ordered to “carry their guns and arrest people.”
On Monday, Trump signed a separate govt order making a specialised Nationwide Guard unit that would help native legislation enforcement in D.C., and doubtlessly across the nation. President Trump mentioned the navy is able to go to any metropolis to crack down on crime, even when the governor doesn’t request its help, and the unit could possibly be deployed “in quelling civil disturbances and ensuring the public safety and order whenever the circumstances necessitate.”
Tisch to Trump’s AG: NYC is ‘under control’
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch at a press convention on Aug. 22, 2025.Picture by Lloyd Mitchell
Additionally on Monday, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch met with AG Bondi by which she “politely” highlighted that the Nationwide Guard was not wanted and that the NYPD has the town “under control” throughout a “positive and productive” assembly, in response to an NYPD spokesperson.
Tisch instructed Bondi that the town has seen record-low taking pictures incidents and taking pictures victims throughout the first eight months of the yr. The spokesperson mentioned the High quality of Life division has expanded to each precinct throughout the 5 boroughs, serving to residents really feel safer of their communities and displaying early success.
Tisch additionally used the assembly to spotlight the division’s use of drone know-how as a “vital, innovative tool” for shielding New Yorkers and fixing crimes, and requested native authority to take down doubtlessly harmful drones quite than counting on federal motion.
After an NYPD detective was injured by pleasant fireplace final week whereas confronting an alleged repeat offender in Queens, Tisch and Mayor Eric Adams each railed in opposition to the present state of New York’s bail legal guidelines. The NYPD spokesperson mentioned that the agenda of the “introductory” assembly with Bondi, which occurred simply hours after Trump’s govt order on bail legal guidelines was signed, was set final week and that bail reform didn’t come up.
The Justice Division did reply to requests for touch upon the assembly on the time of publication.
Advocates for bail reform argue the legislation has diminished racial and monetary inequities in pretrial detention.
Brooklyn State Sen. Julia Salazar, who chairs the Crime Victims, Crime and Correction Committee, mentioned Trump’s order would punish poor and minority New Yorkers.
“How much money you have should never determine whether or not you spend your time before trial behind bars as a legally innocent person,” Salazar mentioned in an announcement. “We cannot tolerate these attacks on our people and on our civil liberties in New York.”
