Former Gov. George Pataki took several shots at Mayor Bill de Blasio Tuesday, contending that the city’s heading downward.
The GOP presidential candidate spoke candidly about his views on New York during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and said he feared that crime will get worse because of the current policing tactics.
He compared the state of the city to the late ’80s and early ’90s when it was inundated with “squeegee men,” except, “instead of squeegee men you have topless women. That’s the new squeegee men of the 21st century.”
“We’re seeing a decline in the quality of life for the moment. I hope de Blasio gets his act together and comes to his senses, but I’m not optimistic,” Pataki said.
The former governor gave some suggestions on ways the mayor can improve the city, including reinstituting stop-and-frisk.
“I would do that. Quality of life crimes matter,” he said.
Representatives for the mayor’s office didn’t return messages for comment.
Pataki also bashed his GOP rivals, especially Donald Trump, for their immigration policies and said he wouldn’t support deporting children born in America whose parents are undocumented immigrants. He said Donald Trump’s plans for those children are flawed and ridiculous.
“The entire response of the Trump immigration coverage is we round up 11 million people, put them on buses take them from farms and school classes and send them back to a country they’ve never been to,” he said, adding that it’s “wrong.”
“It’s ridiculous,” Pataki added. “It makes self-deportation seem humane.”
Pataki’s remarks come days after his New York City counterpart, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, complained that the homeless problem is getting worse in the Big Apple.
“Do you know when people lived on the streets and didn’t use bathrooms inside? It’s called the Dark Ages,” he told NBC/4 New York after he encountered a homeless person near his Upper East Side home.
