Source: Zero Hedge
As New York City political elites brag about their “urban utopia,” reality shows it’s nothing like that. Rather a dystopia as defunding the police and other progressive policies have resulted in a surge of violent crime. The city saw its most significant year-over-year increase in shootings and homicides in more than half a century between 2019 and 2020. Violent crime continues to plague the city today, as top Wall Street firms tell their employees to “dress down” to avoid being targeted.
Outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio’s progressive policies doomed the city as successor, Mayor-elect Eric Adams, a former police officer and Brooklyn Borough President, is expected to deal with soaring violent crime.
At the Bank of America Tower in Midtown Manhattan, senior executives have told employees to “dress down” to avoid being targeted by thieves, according to NYPost, who quoted one bank employee who spoke with On The Money. Execs told employees to avoid wearing the bank’s insignia on clothing as they commute to work.
Employees have been extra cautious about potential attacks after someone recently spotted a man wielding a knife near the office building. Bank of America is not the only financial firm in Midtown and Lower Manhattan to advise employees about surging crime and how they need to take precautions to avoid becoming a victim.
Citibank has offered employees private shuttles to avoid public transportation as violent crime becomes a significant problem. The city reported a 15% increase in felony assaults in November, compared with the same period last year.
Another Wall Street source told On The Money the fear of being targeted on the commute home has “been a topic of conversation on the floor frequently over the last few months.”
“Some people I work with have been accosted … I’d say it’s becoming frequent, if not common,” the source said. “There’s probably a dozen incidents that I saw, or have been involved in,” the person said — mostly verbal, but some physical, the person said.
According to Kastle Systems today, whose electronic access systems secure office buildings in the metro area, only 28% of NYC employees are back in the office compared with 35% last month. The decline is due to the spread of the new COVID-19 variant.
Rising violent crime in the metro area could be the golden opportunity for some employees who’ve returned to the office but want to return to remote working status. Their excuse is that commuting to work is a life-or-death situation.
It’s not just Wall Street bankers frightened about being targeted. College students are on alert after a Columbia University student was stabbed to death on Thursday.
Columbia University Student Dies in Stabbing Near Campus
New York is back…. 1970s New York
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) December 3, 2021
NYC is becoming a liberal hellhole where violent crime will only worsen under progressive policies. For bankers who want to dress down, try incorporating the ‘homeless’ clothing line sold by elite clothing brands (Gucci makes $900 pair of sneakers that look like someone pulled them out of a garbage can).