This weekend, the top honchos in New York State government got together for what was described as a “criminal justice summit” at the Governor’s mansion in Albany. Most of the elected officials you might expect to see were in attendance, including both unelected Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Of course, you can’t hold a “criminal justice” summit in New York these days without the somewhat toxic topic of New York’s “bail reform” law rearing its head. This weekend was no exception. Most of the summit was held behind closed doors, but reporters were invited in for some brief comments on Sunday. Mayor Eric Adams was asked if a fresh look at the disastrous bail reform law had been on the table. But in a switch from his many previous statements blaming bail reform for his city’s skyrocketing crime rates, Adams ducked the question, saying that the topic had “come up” but he chose to focus on “common ground” where there was more agreement. (NY Daily News)

Mayor Adams dialed down his tough talk on the state’s bail reforms over the weekend after maintaining for months that they’re to blame for the city’s crime uptick — extending a pre-election olive branch to Gov. Hochul, who has been reluctant to heed Hizzoner’s calls for rolling back the reforms.

Adams offered the tone shift on bail reform in a virtual press conference Sunday that capped off a two-day criminal justice summit at Gracie Mansion.

The mostly closed-door summit was attended by a long list of local prosecutors, defense attorneys, criminal justice reform advocates and government officials, including Hochul’s chief counsel, Elizabeth Fine, according to an invite list provided to the Daily News. Discussions revolved around ways to find “common ground” on public safety — but largely stayed clear of the hot-button issue of bail reform, Adams said in the press conference.

So this is a definite shift in tone for the Mayor of New York City. He said repeatedly on the campaign trail and for the first year after he took office that bail reform was putting too many criminals back out on the streets. It was an obvious truth, and many of us applauded him for bringing it to light in such a public manner. As recently as this August, Adams talked about how bail reform was “allowing repeat offenders back out on the streets over and over again.” But now the cat suddenly has Mayor Adams’ tongue for some reason. What gives?

One veteran Democratic political strategist from New York gave a not-very-subtle hint to the NY Daily News. Hank Sheinkopf told reporters that Adams’ approach was “a boon” to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who is currently falling behind in her race against her Republican opponent who has been campaigning on lowering crime rates in New York.  He said, “Bail reform immediately gets people focused and afraid, and if the mayor mentions bail reform as a problem, he injures his fellow Democrats and the governor, who are fighting in tough races right now.”

Ah, I see. So the issue of how many New Yorkers are being robbed, raped, assaulted, or killed on the subways will need to take a back seat to Kathy Hochul squeezing out a victory and getting four more years in office. So what is everyone supposed to be focusing on instead? According to Adams and the other participants, that would be “reforming the state court system’s discovery process and increasing access to mental health services.”

So none of this has to do with any serious effort to reduce the crime rates in New York, particularly in the Big Apple. It’s all about keeping Democrats in power and not allowing any sneaky Republicans to come in and steal the throne off of the Governor’s head. After looking as if he was off to a promising start and might deliver some seriously-needed reforms in New York City, Eric Adams has delivered one disappointing headline after another. He ran on his history as a former Republican and Police Chief. But now he’s sounding more and more like just another member of the 21st-century Tammany Hall.