“We urgently and desperately need change.” That was part of a New Yorker’s plea on Twitter regarding how crime is handled in his city.
Art dealer Eli Klein’s post was a reaction to the rape of the 43-year-old woman who was jogging along the Hudson River around 5:30 am on Thursday.
“A woman was raped, beaten and robbed across the street from my NYC art gallery this morning. She was just jogging when she was attacked by a stranger from behind,” Klein posted on Twitter.
A woman was raped, beaten and robbed across the street from my NYC art gallery this morning. She was just jogging when she was attacked by a stranger from behind.
Please, my fellow New York Democrats, vote Republican, at least this once. We urgently and desperately need change.
— Eli Klein (@TheEliKlein) November 3, 2022
“Please, my fellow New York Democrats, vote Republican, at least this once. We urgently and desperately need change,” he added.
The post has more than 21,000 likes so far.
Klein described himself as a lifelong Democrat in one of his posts.
Gabrielle Sumkin, 23, was another jogger who called 911 on behalf of the victim on Thursday, ABC news reported.
She said the victim was in distress, could barely speak, and was repeating “I need help” while she was calling 911.
According to police, 29-year-old Carl Phanor allegedly attacked the victim from behind, choked her and then raped her, and robbed her before fleeing.
Phanor was arrested on the same day of the crime. He was also arrested for two other assaults.
“Police have arrested a homeless man named Carl Phanor in connection with this brutal rape. Phanor is also suspected of choking, robbing & sexually assaulting two other women in NYC back in March & October. Phanor had been arrested 18 times, so should not have been on the streets,” Klein said in a second post.
????WANTED for SEXUAL ASSAULTS: Have you seen Carl Phanor? On 3/27/22 near Clarkson St & West St, the suspect sexually assaulted a 39-year-old female. On 10/6/22 near FDR service road & E 37 St, he attempted to rape a 48-year-old female. Info? DM @NYPDTips, or call 800-577-TIPS. pic.twitter.com/i9PXNUpM7f
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) October 18, 2022
Fixing Crime
For many voters in New York City crime has become one of the most concerning issues for the midterm elections.
For New York, Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) is running for governor against Democrat incumbent Kathy Hochul in the Nov. 8 election.
Zeldin says New Yorkers across the political spectrum are tired of crime and poor quality of life.
New York’s revolving door and soft on crime justice system has emboldened criminals, made police officers’ jobs more challenging, and created a crime surge, said Zeldin’s running mate for Lt. Governor, Alison Esposito, during an Oct. 22 interview with NTD News.
As a commander at an NYC police department, Esposito saw that “most criminals were back in the precinct, collecting their property to go home before my officers were even done processing the arrest,” she said.
New York Police Department (NYPD) statistics show that there were 424 crime incidents in parks for the first half of 2022, and an almost 6 percent increase in crime in October 2022, compared with October 2021. Arrests for major felonies in the city have increased 25.8 percent reaching 39,742 so far in 2022, compared with 31,582 in the first ten months of 2021.
Masooma Haq contributed to this report.