There are dozens of headlines, locally and nationally, depicting the incident that took place on Sept. 18, when a sophomore was arrested for posting an online threat and bringing a loaded weapon to Benjamin N. Cardozo High School.
Mayor Eric Adams addressed the situation in a press conference the same day of the incident, where he comforted families and spoke of his continued actions to get more guns off the streets. New York City Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Jessica Tisch followed Adams, briefly stating the actions taken by officials.
During the briefing, Adams congratulated the NYPD for their bravery and efficiency in handling the situation; but did he do so with another motive in mind?
Adams began the conference by stating, “We’re also grateful because this is the perfect example of the system working properly. After a student made that post, we were able to respond, and a tip was called into our partners at the FBI who in turn notified the NYPD.” He followed with thanking the police for their quick response, proving that his beloved NYPD is a successful system under him. But there was no “thanks” given out to the staff of Cardozo for their cooperation, or for the quick response in-house.
With so much commemoration for the NYPD, it makes one question if this was connected to Adams’ campaign for New York City’s General Mayoral Election.
Throughout his entire campaign, Adams had heavily backed up the NYPD, being a former NYPD captain, as he was strongly focused on increasing safety in New York City. His leading opponent, Zohran Mamdani, has a history of advocating for police defunding but has slowly changed his mind over the past few years.
Cardozo senior Isis Irizarry suspected the language in Adams’ speech, noting that “some people would believe that having the police on a candidate’s side would be a good factor.”
And with crime being one of the major issues, according to a Suffolk University CityView Poll, having the police behind you would provide a necessary advantage in the polls.
Not to mention the weight that Adams filled his words with had given the incident a whole other layer of severity. In his briefing, he repeatedly pondered a different, more deadly, and mournful outcome that may have occurred if the sophomore had not been arrested.
“It would have been unimaginable to have to stand here and say a 16-year-old shot up at high school,” he confessed to the reporters. Leaving the reporters with these thoughts in mind pulls them in for a full-blown coverage of Cardozo in a manner that sparks fear, making an already serious situation even more dark and ominous.
Senior Leah Fessler recalled the amount of press the day after the incident. “There were news people outside. They were still there when school ended,” she said.
Senior Melania Avedian agreed with Fessler’s recounts and added, “I do think that it’s weird that Cardozo was at the forefront of the news when the incident didn’t end up escalating to the point we were fearing.”
On the day of the incident, Cardozo had only gone under a hold during seventh period, which was to clear the police out at the end of the investigation. The social media post did not meet the criteria for the school to undergo a lockdown at that moment.
Dean and English teacher, Mrs. Eshaghian, explained the actions taken that day. “Once the situation was uncovered, things were taken care of quickly, efficiently, and without an incident. There was no panic or fear.”
Eshaghian continued to clarify that the situation was under discrete control, later stating that even after-school activities were still held that day.
The day before the incident at Cardozo, Uniondale High School in Nassau County experienced an almost similar incident. A 17-year-old was caught with a loaded gun that morning and was arrested.
Although the student had not made their intentions public via a social media post, many parents had expressed concern that the student’s purpose in bringing the gun to school could have been of similar intention to the many other schools around the country.
However, the press had not covered this situation as much as Cardozo, in which even large media corporations had stepped in to spread awareness. Once again, it raises the question of whether the involvement of a large political figure increased the publicity of the incident. And if that political figure knew he would gain supporters if he played his cards right with his speech.
Of course, Cardozo would have still made headlines due to the subject matter and the clear and stated intent presented by the sophomore. But even so, it does not mean that Cardozo’s surge in popularity can only be attributed to this one reason.
Former Cardozo student Christina Tu had described the shock she felt upon hearing the news of her alma mater.
Subsequently, after learning more about the incident, she established her stance, declaring, “From what I’ve seen, Cardozo’s increased publicity has been publicized by the election. Especially with Mayor Adams’ large support for the NYPD, since I think he used this situation to express how well the NYPD was doing regarding preventing a mass shooting.”
Other students, such as Avedian, agreed with her remarks, proclaiming, “I wouldn’t be surprised if this was also some sort of political pull by Eric Adams to try to get more supporters.”
However, on Sept. 28, Adams had dropped out of the mayoral election. The overall result of his relationship with the briefing will never be revealed.
But one can always question.
