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A columnist's review of the New York Police Department his handling of subway crime led department heads to blast him and Mayor Eric Adams knocking in.
The theme Crime in New York's subways has been high, and a new column accusing the NYPD of having no plans to help the mentally ill despite an increase in police presence prompted the department to lash out in social media posts. with Mayor Eric Adams as well. The column in question was written by columnist Harry Siegel and published on New York Daily News Saturday (March 30). Siegel criticized department heads for making television appearances downplaying the problem and showing the number of officers, especially after high-profile incidents, including a man who was kicked off a platform in East Harlem last week.
Siegel was attacked by NYPD Transportation Chief Michael Kemper in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “Your readers deserve more accurate reporting. This article is filled with misleading and outright false information,” Kemper wrote, adding that Siegel incorrectly listed 10 subway deaths this year instead of four.
The paper would issue a correction afterward, but that didn't stop NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kay Daughtry from also taking a personal swipe at Siegel. “We are the police. And you're a fly — who should consider revising the definition of insanity: reading a Siegel column while waiting for a helpful package,” Daughtry wrote. NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell will continue to blast Siegel's column on Sunday, saying it “demonstrates total contempt for the NYPD.” He would also call Siegel an “anti-cop” in an interview with 1010 WINS Monday. Siegel admitted his mistake, but also shot at the police in a Positioncalling it “Incredible Cop Talk.”
Mayor Adams offered his two cents after both police spokesmen spent three days harassing Siegel during his weekly press briefing on Tuesday (April 2), calling Siegel's column “abhorrent” as published on of Officer Jonathan Diller's funeral on Long Island. “What you saw from Chell and Daughtry, you saw a human reaction,” he said. Adams was particularly sensitive after coming under fire in an interview with activist and lawyer Olayemi Olurin on Breakfast Club where he was cited for “incitement to fear” and racial profiling by the NYPD.
