#State courts slam Mayor de Blasio over NYC shooting surge

The top spokesman for the state’s court system told Mayor Bill de Blasio to “look in the mirror” when it comes to responsibility for the dramatic surge in gun violence across the Big Apple — after weekend violence injured or killed more than four dozen people.

Hizzoner had earlier pinned the blame for the dramatic uptick in violence on the massive disruptions the coronavirus pandemic has caused across the city, which included hobbling key portions of the criminal justice system for several months.

“The Mayor’s blaming the Courts for the recent spike in violence in New York City is absurd, patently false and ridiculous,” blasted Lucian Chalfen, spokesman for the state Office of Court Administration.

“The Courts have operated continuously, operating throughout the pandemic, arraigning defendants, holding 100s of hearings, and conferencing 1,000s of cases.”

Chalfen added: “He should be looking in the mirror, not gazing out a window.”

State criminal court judges have continued to arraign arrested suspects and hold hearings. However, there is a massive backlog of pending criminal cases because grand juries cannot meet to issue formal indictments and trials have been put on hold due to coronavirus social distancing restrictions.

However, when de Blasio spoke about the court system during his daily press briefing on Monday, he repeatedly claimed that the court system is not functioning, provoking the ire.

“I think, from my point of view, the most central issue is the fact that the court system is not functioning — that when our police effectuate an arrest, they don’t have the same follow-through they’re used to seeing from the court system,” the mayor told reporters Monday during his daily press briefing.

“We’ve got to get the court system up and running, we’ve got to get the [District Attorneys] doing their work so that we can address folks who are violent in communities and causing harm to their neighbors.”

Hizzoner’s comments came just hours after the end of another bloody weekend where 49 people were hit in a spate of shootings, which left 8 people dead.