Andrew Giuliani suggests New York crime fatigue could propel his family into office again

"This is honestly an epidemic of crime all around New York," said Giuliani, who leads by 5 points in the GOP gubernatorial primary race, according to a recent poll.

By Madeleine Hubbard

Published: June 8, 2022 8:19pm

Updated: June 8, 2022 11:52pm

Rampant crime propelled Rudy Giuliani into the New York mayor's office nearly three decades ago, and his son Andrew Giuliani, Republican frontrunner for governor, now suggests that the most recent crime wave will bring a second generation of his family into office.

"This is honestly an epidemic of crime all around New York," Giuliani told "Just the News, Not Noise" on Wednesday, promising to take a hard stance against lawlessness.

If elected, Giuliani said, on his first day in office he plans on telling the New York Assembly speaker and state Senate majority leader that "very simply, until there's a full repeal of bail reform, and we end this war on our cops, I will not be funding their top priorities in the budget."

New York Police Department data shows that crime in the Big Apple is getting worse. Overall crime increased by more than 25% in May 2022 from that month the previous year. In May 2021, crime increased by more than 20% from May 2020 in the city.

From 2020 to 2021 New York state saw an 8% increase in violent crime and a nearly 5% increase in murders. Compared to 2012, the state saw murders rise by more than 25%.

"Well, look, I remember when Time magazine in the early '90s did the famous cover that said 'New York was the rotting apple' and that it was ungovernable," Giuliani said. "There's another guy named Giuliani who came in and took it from over 2,000 murders a year to eventually less than 600 a year," he added, referring to his father. "That's the exact same kind of attitude that I will be taking home."

He promised that under an Andrew Giuliani administration, "we will relight" the "economic flame that is New York."

While some New Yorkers have told him the state's greatest days have passed, Giuliani said he disagrees.

"Our greatest chapters are yet to be written," he said. "We just need another Giuliani there, turn it around."

Ahead of the June 28 New York gubernatorial primary, Giuliani has a 5-point lead over Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin at 28% to 23%, according to a poll late last month from John Zogby Strategies.