Issues Facing New York City’s Next Mayor

To the Editor:

Re “City’s Election Could Set Agenda on Policing” (Opinion guest essay, June 22):

Errol Louis’s stunning essay on the future of police policy could be a starting point of mayoral plans for the New York Police Department. Left out of most campaign discussions are the (mostly) young males responsible for the upswing in street crime.

The pandemic has left our most vulnerable youths floundering as programs, schools, jobs and socializing have been stifled. You can’t confront crime solely as a police issue. There is cause and effect for young people acting out.

The rush to normalcy is more than the opening of restaurants and theaters in our town. It is the challenge to emotionally embrace the young people who have been left suspended in air for more than 15 months. Virtual meetings and Zoom have been effective for business operations — not so much for the unshaped, confused men/boys on the streets.

David Rothenberg
New York
The writer is the founder of The Fortune Society.