"We urgently and desperately need change." That was part of a New Yorker's plea on Twitter regarding how crime is handled in his city.
Art dealer Eli Klein's post was a reaction to the rape of the 43-year-old woman who was jogging along the Hudson River around 5:30 am on Thursday.
"A woman was raped, beaten and robbed across the street from my NYC art gallery this morning. She was just jogging when she was attacked by a stranger from behind," Klein posted on Twitter.
"Please, my fellow New York Democrats, vote Republican, at least this once. We urgently and desperately need change," he added.
The post has more than 21,000 likes so far.
Klein described himself as a lifelong Democrat in one of his posts.
She said the victim was in distress, could barely speak, and was repeating “I need help” while she was calling 911.
According to police, 29-year-old Carl Phanor allegedly attacked the victim from behind, choked her and then raped her, and robbed her before fleeing.
Phanor was arrested on the same day of the crime. He was also arrested for two other assaults.
"Police have arrested a homeless man named Carl Phanor in connection with this brutal rape. Phanor is also suspected of choking, robbing & sexually assaulting two other women in NYC back in March & October. Phanor had been arrested 18 times, so should not have been on the streets," Klein said in a second post.
Fixing Crime
For many voters in New York City crime has become one of the most concerning issues for the midterm elections.For New York, Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) is running for governor against Democrat incumbent Kathy Hochul in the Nov. 8 election.
New York’s revolving door and soft on crime justice system has emboldened criminals, made police officers’ jobs more challenging, and created a crime surge, said Zeldin’s running mate for Lt. Governor, Alison Esposito, during an Oct. 22 interview with NTD News.
As a commander at an NYC police department, Esposito saw that “most criminals were back in the precinct, collecting their property to go home before my officers were even done processing the arrest,” she said.