Public Safety Will Take An Even More Central Role in Mayor’s Race

Ross Barkan writes: "It is not yet known who orchestrated the bombings. But New York City is in a “heightened state of alert” and the various mayoral candidates have blasted out statements expressing condolences for the victims’ families and reaffirmed their commitments, vaguely, to strong anti-terrorist policies. While terrorism as an issue is always on the minds of voters and the campaigns, it has, 12 years later, taken a backseat in the mayoral race thus far, gaining less attention than paid sick leave or stop-and-frisk, for example.

"That is about to change. It is far too early to say whether the marathon bombing will loom over the race indefinitely (if it happened closer to New York City, the answer would be an unequivocal “yes”). Yet terrorism and public safety pertaining to threats beyond petty violence, at least for now, will return to the forefront of the race.

"How a fairly liberal Democrat field balances their civil liberties bona fides with strong anti-terrorist rhetoric will be fascinating to watch. Depending on who the bombing suspects are, the issue of racial profiling and NYPD surveillance could return to the forefront, too.

This Councilman Greenfield tweet:

It's tragic days like today that remind us of the important roles Mayors & Police Commissioners play during a crisis. #NYC2013
— David G. Greenfield (@NYCGreenfield) April 15, 2013

And this tweet saying it helps Quinn and Lhota solidify lead:

This incident helps @chriscquinn on the democrat side @joelhota on republican side Stable and experience hands is important at such times
— Moshe Friedman (@moshe_friedman) April 15, 2013