Feature: New York voters in midterm elections call for action against crime

NEW YORK, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- New Yorkers in the U.S. midterm elections of 2022 expressed deep concerns over growing crime, especially on New York City's subway system and streets.

The frustration over untamed crime widely resonated in the run-up to election day on Tuesday.

Renee Procida, a resident of Franklin Square of Nassau County, around 15 miles (about 24 km) east of Manhattan, said the issue is her number one concern.

"I would like to see a change in the no cash bail ... the bail reform is a disaster. So many terrible things have been happening here in New York, and it's just bad for everyone. You have to be afraid to go in the subway. You have to be afraid to walk down the street," Procida told Xinhua.

New York City needs to bring back law and order, and crime in her neighborhood is also rising, said Procida, who retired a few years ago.

In 2019, New York State adopted a law ending the assessment of cash bail in most cases involving misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies "including stalking, assault without serious injury, burglary, many drug offenses, and even some kinds of arson and robbery," according to an earlier report by The New York Times.

The New York Police Department received 107,937 crime complaints year to date through Nov. 6, representing a year-on-year increase of 29.1 percent and a rise of 32.3 percent from that in 2020, according to department data.

According to Procida, perpetrators are not afraid of the consequences because they know they will be released in a couple of hours.

"So many people have left Long Island and have left New York because of what's going on here and because of the crime," lamented Procida at a rally.

Procida told Xinhua that her daughter works in Manhattan on the Upper East Side but is afraid to walk the streets. Procida said her daughter has to commute from Franklin Square to Manhattan by car because the subways are dangerous.

Paul, a voter from the Town of North Hempstead, Nassau County, told Xinhua that he was "very unhappy where things are going now" because of high inflation and crime, saying "we need change."

Patricia, another voter from the Town of North Hempstead, said crime remains a problem, with muggings, attacks and unwarranted touching on the rise.

"No cash bail is letting everybody go. So these criminals are getting out knowing they can get away with everything ... We need big change," said Patricia.

Patricia, who works in Manhattan as a hairstylist, said she doesn't take the subway anymore and drives daily instead.

James Gansky, a voter also from the Town of North Hempstead, said, "Why is crime so important to you? Well, I don't know. Maybe because I don't want to get killed ... This is absolute insanity."

Gansky, a residential building contractor, said on Tuesday that he expected to see crime being taken care of after the midterm elections.

As much as 28 percent of likely voters in New York State said crime is the most urgent issue facing the state today, ranking first, followed by inflation with 20 percent, according to a poll released by Quinnipiac University on Oct. 18.

Crime is also a major issue nationwide in the midterm elections, with 61 percent of registered voters ranking violent crime as the sixth most important issue, according to a survey conducted on Oct. 10-16 by Pew Research Center.