{"id":1536,"date":"2026-08-17T09:40:30","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T09:40:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1536"},"modified":"2026-08-17T09:40:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T09:40:30","slug":"socialist-ny-lawmaker-says-people-should-not-be-arrested-for-stealing-basic-necessities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1536","title":{"rendered":"Socialist NY Lawmaker Says People Should Not Be Arrested for Stealing Basic Necessities"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>A socialist New York state lawmaker is facing criticism after arguing that people who steal necessities such as toothpaste and soap should not be arrested, claiming access to such products as a \u201cbiological need.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1534\">CCP-Linked Figure Behind $8.4 Million Property Purchase Near White House: Report<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher, who represents portions of Brooklyn, made the comments Thursday outside Manhattan Criminal Court during an event with other progressive officials and criminal justice activists.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost of what we saw were crimes of poverty, people who are stealing things like toothpaste, people who were stealing things like, you know, soap,\u201d Gallagher said. \u201cAnd that means if you\u2019re stealing those things, you need them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gallagher criticized prosecuting shoplifters for stealing from major retailers, arguing that the criminal justice system was protecting corporations instead of struggling New Yorkers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are choosing to protect billion-dollar companies, like CVS and Walgreens, over the people who are struggling to get by,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Gallagher later wrote on X that \u201cno one should be arrested, much less jailed, for stealing a tube of toothpaste.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her claim that New Yorkers can be jailed simply for stealing inexpensive necessities, however, conflicts with the state\u2019s bail laws. Petit larceny, which generally covers theft of property worth $1,000 or less, is not a bail-eligible offense under New York\u2019s 2019 bail reforms. Judges generally must release defendants while their cases are pending.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1532\">Rebranding Won\u2019t Make Democrats Less Repulsive on Social Issues<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Gallagher\u2019s comments came as progressive activists pressured Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani to fulfill campaign promises to reduce NYPD enforcement of quality-of-life offenses, including low-level theft, fare evasion, graffiti and public urination.<\/p>\n<p>Former NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce warned that abandoning enforcement could encourage further disorder, particularly among repeat offenders.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cReally, you have to go make those arrests,\u201d Boyce told ABC7. \u201cOtherwise, you\u2019d have chaos on the street.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Recent crime statistics suggest enforcement has coincided with improvements. NYPD data through Aug. 9 showed retail theft declining 14.7% and petit larceny falling 5.4% compared with the same period last year, according to the New York Post.<\/p>\n<p>Republican Councilwoman Joann Ariola also blasted Gallagher\u2019s position, warning that businesses already facing high operating costs could suffer further if shoplifting is tolerated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the kind of backwards, left-wing lunacy I would expect from someone who values the rights of criminals more than those of business owners,\u201d Ariola said.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1530\">Europe\u2019s Coming Existential Crisis<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A socialist New York state lawmaker is facing criticism after arguing that people who steal necessities such as toothpaste and soap should not be arrested\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1535,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Socialist NY Lawmaker Says People Should Not Be Arrested for Stealing Basic Necessities - Urban Economy news<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1536\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Socialist NY Lawmaker Says People Should Not Be Arrested for Stealing Basic Necessities - Urban Economy news\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A socialist New York state lawmaker is facing criticism after arguing that people who steal necessities such as toothpaste and soap should not be arrested\u2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1536\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Urban Economy news\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-17T09:40:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=1536#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=1536\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/be7753cb687f443815cc81e8407f68ad\"},\"headline\":\"Socialist NY Lawmaker Says People Should Not Be Arrested for Stealing Basic Necessities\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-17T09:40:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=1536\"},\"wordCount\":417,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=1536#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/5d91ef84cfc7b57e015b4402a850b07c-scaled.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=1536#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=1536\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=1536\",\"name\":\"Socialist NY Lawmaker Says People Should Not Be Arrested for Stealing Basic Necessities - Urban Economy news\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=1536#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=1536#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/5d91ef84cfc7b57e015b4402a850b07c-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-17T09:40:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/be7753cb687f443815cc81e8407f68ad\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=1536#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=1536\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=1536#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/5d91ef84cfc7b57e015b4402a850b07c-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/5d91ef84cfc7b57e015b4402a850b07c-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1186},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?p=1536#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Socialist NY Lawmaker Says People Should Not Be Arrested for Stealing Basic Necessities\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Urban Economy news\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/be7753cb687f443815cc81e8407f68ad\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/urbaneconomynews.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Socialist NY Lawmaker Says People Should Not Be Arrested for Stealing Basic Necessities - Urban Economy news","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1536","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Socialist NY Lawmaker Says People Should Not Be Arrested for Stealing Basic Necessities - Urban Economy news","og_description":"A socialist New York state lawmaker is facing criticism after arguing that people who steal necessities such as toothpaste and soap should not be arrested\u2026","og_url":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1536","og_site_name":"Urban Economy news","article_published_time":"2026-08-17T09:40:30+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1536#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1536"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/be7753cb687f443815cc81e8407f68ad"},"headline":"Socialist NY Lawmaker Says People Should Not Be Arrested for Stealing Basic Necessities","datePublished":"2026-08-17T09:40:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1536"},"wordCount":417,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1536#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5d91ef84cfc7b57e015b4402a850b07c-scaled.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1536#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1536","url":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1536","name":"Socialist NY Lawmaker Says People Should Not Be Arrested for Stealing Basic Necessities - Urban Economy news","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1536#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1536#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5d91ef84cfc7b57e015b4402a850b07c-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-08-17T09:40:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/be7753cb687f443815cc81e8407f68ad"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1536#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1536"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1536#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5d91ef84cfc7b57e015b4402a850b07c-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5d91ef84cfc7b57e015b4402a850b07c-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1186},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1536#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Socialist NY Lawmaker Says People Should Not Be Arrested for Stealing Basic Necessities"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/","name":"Urban Economy news","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/be7753cb687f443815cc81e8407f68ad","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com"],"url":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}