Well, we can finally say that the CoVid-19 pandemic is over here in New York City as more people died from violent crimes over the July 4th weekend than from the virus, ushering in a new epidemic.

Ironically the news came on the same day Mayor Bill de Blasio along with his Police Commissioner Dermet Shea ballyhoed the reduction in heinous crimes year over year, however they neglected to mention the most recent spikes in shootings and stabbings.

In other Democratically controlled cities similar statistics were cited after more than a year of defunding police measures were deployed.

Chicago Mayor Lorie Lightfoot also cited improving year-over-year reductions while glossing over the fact that more citizens were killed or maimed over this last holiday weekend than any year prior.

NY Governor Andrew Cuomo laid out his own anti-violence plan on Tuesday with a $138 million in funding to curb gun violence.

“Gun violence and crime should be the top priority for every mayor in this state because every city has been affected by it,” Cuomo said.

“It’s a matter of saving lives — and New York’s future depends on it.”

I have said in the past that the new measures Cuomo and de Blasio put into place to defund the police after the George Floyd killing last year only emboldened the stakeholders — to use that favorite term of the democrats — to commit more crimes.

The fact that assistant district attorneys request no bail and excessive Parole Board releases only tell criminals the streets are yours, including Times Square.

There is no magic bullet — pun intended — to cut down on gun violence. New York had a good grasp on it before the pandemic. Put plain-clothes cops back on the streets and you will see a rapid decline in the violence.

New York Republican State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt (R-Lockport) put it best when he blasted Cuomo for “declaring another emergency” just “days after finally relinquishing his emergency powers.”

“The crisis in cities across our state today directly correlates with the passage of the disastrous bail and other criminal justice ‘reforms,’ an out-of-control Parole Board that has released countless murderers and other dangerous criminals, and calls by Democrats to defund our police,” he said.

“These heinous acts of violence and the victims affected deserve real solutions — not political grandstanding.”

If vaccinations work for the Covid-19 pandemic, then taking the handcuffs off the police will have the same results for the shooting epidemic in New York.