For months now we’ve been urging New York Republicans to spell out some real differences from their Democratic rivals. This week the three GOP candidates for mayor did so, and on two pressing issues: schools and crime.
The occasion was the candidates’ first televised debate on Wednesday. Crime was a big theme. And here, instead of second-guessing the NYPD, Joe Lhota, John Catsimatidis and George McDonald expressed clear opposition to the two City Council bills that would handcuff the cops’ ability to keep our streets safe.
Lhota vows that if elected he would challenge in court the bill that aims to gut stop-question-and-frisk by expanding the definition of racial profiling. Along with Catismatidis, Lhota also he said he would work to limit the authority of any inspector general imposed on the NYPD by the council.
“That IG’s going to work for me as mayor,” said Lhota. “That IG is not independent . . . and I’ll make sure that IG does what I want the IG to do.” For his part, Catsimatidis promised to “limit [an inspector’s] authority and keep our police commissioner’s authority at the highest level.”
All this is in sharp contrast to the men and woman competing for the Democratic nomination. In varying degrees, all these candidates support the council bills, apparently unconcerned about returning New York to the crime-ridden days of the past.
Then there are the schools. Here, too, Democrats have more or less embraced the agenda of the teachers union. If put into practice, this agenda would undo most of the progress that has been made, not least with the advance of charter schools.
The GOP candidates, on the other hand, want to increase charters, remove limits on co-locating charters in existing public schools and continue mayoral control.
At least on these issues, one party is looking to the city’s future while the other is trying to undo its present. For the sake of giving New Yorkers a genuine choice, let’s hope the GOP candidates continue to sharpen rather than fuzz differences.