Giuliani Stokes Crime Fears

Rudy Giuliani waxed nostalgic at an event for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Sunday. “I worried daily [in his last days in office] that the city might be turned back to the way it was before 1993—and you know exactly what I'm talking about," Giuliani told a group of Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn. “This community remembers the fears, the worries and the crimes—and the great fear of going out at night and walking the streets." Critics accused Giuliani of hinting to the audience that they should fear electing a black mayor in Bloomberg’s opponent, Bill Thompson. “Giuliani’s comments verge on race-baiting,” said City Councilman Bill de Blasio. “Bloomberg should disavow those comments and show that he doesn’t buy into that kind of rhetoric.”