State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie was in Albany when a young man was shot in the head outside his Bronx district office — but his constituents say they wouldn’t have known the difference.
Residents in Heastie’s Laconia district told The Post the soft-on-crime pol is rarely spotted in his urban home turf, even as they’re left to contend with violence, gunplay and other rampant crime.
“I don’t know who he is. I’ve never seen him,” a woman who asked to be identified only as Nicole said near Heastie’s office Tuesday, adding, “this area is bad.”
“He should be more active in the community,” she said. “It’s his job to come outside and talk to the people. If you are sitting there not doing anything to help your constituency, that’s not good. A lot of stuff happens in this neighborhood.
“Obviously he is not doing enough.”
One lifelong neighborhood resident said things are regressing in the area — and Heastie’s lenient crime reform measures are only making crime worse.
“It was bad in the ’80s. I feel like it’s creeping back to that era,” the 55-year-old local said. “If a person is accused of a friggin’ violent crime they’re supposed to go on bail or be denied bail depending on the severity of the crime.
“I don’t support the way it is now,” he said, while adding, “This is bigger than Heastie.”
Police said a 20-year-old man was shot in the head in a drive-by shooting outside the Bronx district offices of New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, who has been a leading proponent of controversial criminal justice reforms. Tomas GastonHeastie (D-Bronx), one of the architects of the Empire State’s controversial criminal justice reforms, was in Albany hashing out the budget deal when gunmen opened fire outside his local office in Laconia around 3 p.m. Monday, striking a 20-year-old man in the head, according to cops and police sources.
“Yesterday I was notified there was a shooting outside my district office,” Heastie said in a statement. “This is an ongoing investigation, and I don’t have all of the details. I was in Albany at the time of the shooting, but I am grateful for the safety of my staff and everyone else who was in the vicinity at the time.
“Sadly, in this instance, another young person of color has fallen victim to gun violence,” he said. “As I have said repeatedly, we must stop focusing on the symptoms of crime and treat the disease. We must address the scourge of guns and gun violence plaguing our country, and this is yet another example of the urgent need to act.”
Locals, however, were left scratching their heads as to why the powerful Democrat wasn’t around more often.
“I don’t know who he is. I’ve never seen him,” a woman who asked to be identified only as Nicole said near Heastie’s office Tuesday, adding, “this area is bad.”
“He should be more active in the community,” she said. “It’s his job to come outside and talk to the people. If you are sitting there not doing anything to help your constituency, that’s not good. A lot of stuff happens in this neighborhood.
“Obviously he is not doing enough.”
Police said several gunmen opened fire from a white 2018 BMW sedan that had been stolen earlier in the day, striking a 20-year-old man in the head as he walked outside Heastie’s office.
Police have not made an arrest in the shooting. The victim remains in stable condition a Jacobi Hospital.
New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie was in Albany when a 20-year-old man was shot outside his district office in the Bronx on Monday, where his own constituents say they’re not on board with Heasties’ soft crime policies. Hans PenninkHeastie, one of the three most powerful pols in Albany, has been a vocal supporter of the state’s controversial 2019 criminal justice reforms that eliminated bail for most misdemeanor and non-violent felony charges — which critics say has allowed more criminals back on the streets.
Both Heastie and state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) had resisted Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal to give judges more discretion over bail by rolling back a requirement they impose the “least restrictive” standards to ensure people return to court.
A poll conducted by The Post in March found that his constituents in the heavily-Democratic district don’t see eye-to-eye with him, with nearly 57% of voters saying the reforms should be reversed.
Tarek Duhaney, who lives in Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie’s Bronx district, says he doesn’t agree with the state lawmaker’s soft stance on criminal justice reforms in the state, including the “Raise the Age” law Heastie pushed. Tomas E. GastonHeastie also backed the “Raise the Age” law, which upped the age for young suspects to be charged as adults to 18, forcing the courts to deal with violent teens with kid gloves.
“I don’t agree with him,” Heastie constituent Tarek Duhaney said Tuesday. “If the person is, say, 16, he has common sense. At that age he knows what a gun can do. Why is he walking around with a gun if he doesn’t plan on using it?
“He should be charged as an adult if he shoots somebody or kills somebody,” Duhaney said. “He should not get treated like a kid. An innocent bystander could get hit. It could be a mother, a baby.”
Salah Sala, who mans the counter at a deli across the street from Heastie’s district office, said many of the troublemakers are “very young,” and that “Raise the Age” has only made things worse.
“They know nothing is going to happen to them, and that’s why there is so much problem,” Sala said of youth offenders. “They don’t care.
“I don’t agree with him,” he added of Heastie. “Too much problems, too much killings. Do you know how many so far this year and who are doing them? The kids.”
In a statement released Monday Heastie denounced the “scourge” of gun violence that erupted outside his Bronx office.
“Yesterday I was notified there was a shooting outside my district office,” Heastie said in a statement. “This is an ongoing investigation, and I don’t have all of the details. I was in Albany at the time of the shooting, but I am grateful for the safety of my staff and everyone else who was in the vicinity at the time.
“Sadly, in this instance, another young person of color has fallen victim to gun violence,” he said. “As I have said repeatedly, we must stop focusing on the symptoms of crime and treat the disease. We must address the scourge of guns and gun violence plaguing our country, and this is yet another example of the urgent need to act.”
Cops said several gunmen opened fire from a white 2018 BMW sedan that had been stolen earlier in the day, striking a 20-year-old man in the head as he walked outside Heastie’s office.Police have not made an arrest in the shooting. The victim remains in stable condition at Jacobi Hospital.






