While discontent with New York City’s stop-and-frisk policing tactic has emerged as a central issue in the Democratic mayoral primary, the leading Republican candidates on Wednesday said they would not mind if their own son or daughter were stopped and frisked by the police.
In a live televised debate, John A. Catsimatidis, the billionaire owner of the Gristedes supermarket chain, described the stops as a “temporary thing,” until technology allowed officers to detect guns from afar. And while he said rookie officers should receive additional training, he shrugged off the prospect of his son being stopped.
“I would say to him, ‘Well, what did you do to provoke it?’ ” he said. “I would say to him, ‘Were you dressed funny? Were you walking funny? Did you look funny?’ ” He added of the policing tactic, “I would sit down, have a father-to-son talk with him and say to him that we need it.”
Joseph J. Lhota, a former chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and deputy mayor to Rudolph W. Giuliani, was also undeterred, saying that he would explain to his daughter the legal basis for the stops.
“If they did not follow the rules of the Supreme Court, I would actually say that we have a situation here,” Mr. Lhota said. “But the reality is 90 percent of all of the millions of stops that have happened in the City of New York have happened in compliance with the constitutional rights that have been put forward by the Supreme Court.”
The discussion of the stop-and-frisk program — and the lack of pointed criticism from either leading Republican — offered a stark contrast with the Democratic candidates, and suggested the general election could offer voters two sharply different views about the future of city policing.
With less than two weeks until the Sept. 10 primary, the debate, on WCBS-TV, offered more of a window into differences of style than policy substance between the two leading Republicans. Mr. Catsimatidis, a Greek immigrant, highlighted his desire to give back to a city in which he made his fortune, while Mr. Lhota, a seasoned government steward, sought to convey his command of how the city government ticks.
A third candidate, George T. McDonald, an advocate for the homeless who has struggled to generate interest in his candidacy, seemed just to want viewers to remember he was in the debate hall. He stressed his central campaign theme, providing employment to all New Yorkers.
In another clear contrast with the Democrats, none of the Republicans hesitated when asked if they would name something in the city after Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. (All of them were open to the idea.) But Mr. Lhota and Mr. Catsimatidis both disagreed with his proposal to ban the sale of large sugary drinks, with both men saying that the city should instead focus on teaching about nutrition.
“Government shouldn’t tell us what to do,” Mr. Lhota said. “Government should educate us, and then we make up our own mind.”
The debate offered a reminder about the gulf between the Republican candidates for mayor and many Republicans across the country. Mr. Lhota and Mr. Catsimatidis both said they would be willing to officiate same-sex marriages as mayor.
In recent days, Mr. Catsimatidis and Mr. Lhota have begun to show negative television commercials about each other, and although the debate offered hints of the increasing tension between them, the back and forth did not turn into all-out conflict.
The most pointed dispute was over mathematics. After Mr. Catsimatidis proposed putting dedicated police officers at public housing buildings, Mr. Lhota said, “I want to know how we’re going to pay for 3,000 additional officers.”
After Mr. Catsimatidis disputed his calculation, Mr. Lhota, who seemed eager to show his fluency with city policy, said, “I was the budget director of the City of New York. I used to do this day in and day out. Don’t make up numbers. You want numbers, come to me.”
“I know what I’m talking about, O.K.?” Mr. Catsimatidis responded.
“Why are you so angry?” Mr. Lhota asked.
“I’m not,” Mr. Catsimatidis said.
In another memorable exchange, the three candidates were asked to say something nice about one another. Mr. Lhota went first, saying his two opponents both had “wonderful families.”
Then it was time for Mr. Catsimatidis.
“Joe knows I like him a great deal,” he said.
Mr. Lhota rolled his eyes and shook his head. But Mr. Catsimatidis was adamant. “I really like you a great deal,” he said. “We might have disagreements, but that’s politics.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment