Two separate press conferences. Same location. Same topic. 

Both the Democratic and Republican candidates for mayor were talking about gun violence on Monday outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall. Eric Adams appeared alongside U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand to push for federal legislation to make gun trafficking a federal crime. 

What You Need To Know

  • Both Republican and Democratic candidates for mayor were in front of Brooklyn Borough Hall on Monday, calling for a crackdown on crime

  • Both want to bring back a plain clothes NYPD unit to tackle illegal guns

  • Adams said the state's bail reform law also needs to be examined
  • Sliwa wants to appoint a special prosecutor to tackle gun crimes

"This legislation is part of the many tools that we can use to finally get this crisis under control," Adams said. 

Lingering in the background was his Republican rival, Curtis Sliwa, who staged a press conference immediately after Adams left the scene. He watched Adams’ press conference from a nearby park bench. 

"Maybe I need to speak more preemptively so Eric Adams will stay on track, instead of being inconsistent in which he has been a flip-flopper from time to time on these issues,” said Sliwa, who founded the Guardian Angels. 

The two have both said they want to bring back the controversial anti-crime unit — the group of plain clothes NYPD officers tasked with getting guns off the streets. Mayor Bill de Blasio disbanded it last year. 

Sliwa wants to stiffen penalties for illegal weapons possession and have a special prosecutor in charge of gun crimes. He also claimed he can bring back the unit faster than Adams. 

"The big difference is I would activate street crime unit now,” Sliwa said (that’s not something the current mayor supports, making it highly unlikely anything changes before a new mayor comes to City Hall). Sliwa continued: “Eric Adams has said, ‘No, he would repurpose it.’ He would have them retrained."

On top of the federal legislation, Adams said it’s time for the state legislature to re-examine the list of crimes eligible for bail. Lawmakers in Albany changed the bail law in 2019 and in 2020, limiting when a judge can set bail. 

"We should partner with those who understand these violent crimes to determine what crimes should not be on the list. And we should definitely not be allowing a person who discharges a gun to be out the next day,” Adams said. “I think we should reexamine the list."