The invisible but virulent Coronavirus bug plaguing New York City and hampering normalcy across the country is tamping down criminal activity in the Big Apple like no politician has been able to do in nearly a century. Reports of serious felonies, murders, and arrests during the week of March 16 – 22, dropped 16.6% compared to the same period in 2019.

Every NYC dweller must stay home unless they are deemed “essential.”  Part and parcel, every non-essential business is closed, and gatherings of any size are prohibited until further notice. The rules apply to everyone: drug dealers, hookers, the Mafia, and normally law-abiding citizens.

And police are enforcing the rules with an almost ridiculous zeal – arresting and jailing violators who are notably good citizens for making a beer run or fetching non-essentials such as allergy medication. Earlier this week, Mayor Bill de Blasio threatened to hand out $500 fines for social distance perps, and jail time for repeat offenders.  Ironically, 800 spots for three-hots-and-a-cot cells are now available thanks to deBlasio releasing convicts to ease the infection rate of COVID-19 within the city’s jail system.

So, is the mayor thinking clearly? Throw the bad guys out to make room for the normally good guys in the petri dish environment of Riker’s Island and the larger jail system?

Eliot Ness Would be Impressed

With restaurants, bars, speakeasies, and all sporting events effectively closed for business for the foreseeable future, the largest of all family enterprises, affectionately known as “the Mafia” is also suffering the economic effects of Coronavirus. Insurance protection fees are not being extorted from shuttered businesses. And gambling? With the wholesale cancellation of every sport known to man, the only gambling going on is Mark Angelides, of Liberty Nation, putting out his weekly numbers racket, um, briefing, the Political Horse Race.

As non-essential projects have ground to a halt, construction, another “family” infiltrated industry, is on hold, along with the ancillary mob jobs in trucking and parts supply. The only sector of mob dominated industry is narcotics. But that has also been tamped down, since the product is moved through restaurants, bars, and strip clubs: All closed till further notice.

If only, back in the 1960s, then-U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy had known what an invisible enemy, such as a nasty contagion, could do to cripple syndicated crime. What would Al Capone’s nemesis, the legendary fighter against organized crime, Eliot Ness, think of it all?

The Upside Down of COVID-19

The epicenter of Coronavirus has become New York City – with a population of 8.6 million, extreme measures must be taken to stop the spread. The city had reported nearly 1,867 coronavirus-related deaths as of Friday, April 3 – which is alarming as the number of total deaths in the U.S. was 6,058 people on that day. No one, except perhaps the mafia, will blame DeBlasio for closing the shades on his city. Or maybe the blowback will be immense from the other millions of regular Jills and Joes who find themselves hauled off before a good, stiff drink is imbibed, as convicted criminals are now free to resettle and shelter in place. Drastic times may call for extreme measures, but this seems over the top.

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Read more from Sarah Cowgill.

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