To all the wing-nuts who are jumping all over this as a "liberal, soft on crime" move by the governor; remember that if the 16 or 17 year old commits a violent felony, they will still be tried as adults. More importantly, it will save the taxpayers a huge amount of money in terms of incarceration (it costs around $500 per day, per offender) and court costs- family court cases are a lot less expensive to dispose of, as there are no juries and the judges have the final say. Most of all, it would keep the kids out of the jails, where the only lessons they are learning is to be better criminals. It would also seal the kids records and help them in the future when they want to get a job, go to college, or enlist in the military; which severely lowers their risk for recidivism (and saves us dollars). Take it from someone who works in law enforcement; our current system does not work, it perpetuates more crime and very often makes violent offenders out of kids who were picked up for minor infractions.

This is rather simple, create a new course to be taught in middle school at the age of 15. The course is about civic and personal responsibility, what civilized people do and what criminals do and the consequences of being a criminal. Field trips to police precincts, jails, and the morgue would be part of the curriculum. Thus, after completing the course and you engage in criminal behavior, you are then treated as an adult. No mommy saying my son is a good boy BS.

Unintended consequences: Sealing the records of heinous criminal acts by 16 & 17 years olds forever barring law enforcement and the public from learning and/or using that information. Imagine, a 17 year old convicted of dozens of robberies and not being able to access that information to link him to robberies committed as "an adult" or using that information for sentencing purposes as an adult. Insane.

They say the records are "sealed" but thats not true... they can always access the information

Is there no bounds to this man's stupidity? Guess not. Kids doing more adult things than ever before with alcohol and drugs, but let them be minors when they violate these laws

these animals are out of control now! its already frustrating to watch the revolving door, he's worse then his father was. what a liberal, disgusting!

Why I dont vote anymore.. These clowns dont have a clue.. Yeah..Tell me to vote them out.. When I do, the next clown just the same stupid things...

Remaining silent; or not voting; or not getting involved in your community only serves to give the radical fringes; more influence, power and control over our lives.

I am in favor of pushing it down to 15 years old. Have you seen some of these "kids"? The ones who don't break the law will not be effected at all.

Gang members rejoice!!!

Why? Why consider something so misguided, not even remotely in the best interests of the community? If anything. the "communities" where so much of the crime is committed by 16 or 17 year-olds, and even younger, are growing. Pandering to the minority communities - nothing more. Get out of NY before its too late.

Amazing...kids these days know what they are doing at much longer ages. If you commit these crimes at 15,16,17 years old they should be prosecuted as adults. Either way,lets face it the penalties for minors or adults rarely fit the crimes they commit.

Why don't these so-called youth advocates ramp up and stay in school, stay out of gangs, personal responsibility campaign instead? Too hard I'm guessing.

These "youth advocates" can progress to "community organizers " and run for president.

Hey BTW I was born in 1960, too.

It seems to be a clear path...

I say reduce them to 16, period. Do the crime, do the time. Enough of the BS.

oh goodie. so the 16-17 year old thugs who murder people will only be charged as juveniles?? i say, adult crimes, adult charges.

The Gangs will love this !

Why don't we just hold their hands forever? Cuomo can be the hand-holder-in-chief.

Mr. Cuomo, it's about taking responsibility. You know what that is, don't you? Even though you achieved your success gliding on the coat tails of your late father, you probably read about responsibility somewhere.

Lunatics, this state is being run by lunatics.

we vote them in and we let them run it like lunatics..... imgaine that

Maybe you voted for him, I didn't.

Lunatics, liberals and liars. One and the same.

This will def improve employment prospects for drug couriers and street corner sellers who had to retire at 16. Now they can work an extra two years. See, it's a jobs program. As long as they do what they doing in their hoods, I don't care if the age is 35.

Law abiding, taxpaying, working legal citizens get nothing. But if you're a criminal, illegal, non-working person you get free government handouts from food, to board, education, even college. These "children" are doing their fair share of crime so why is he bending over for them? He's going the wrong way.

Maybe he considers them "his people".

Sprinkle in a few liberal judges and soon everyone who commits a crime will be right back on the street ready to commit another. Nearly 80% of all crime is committed by a REPEAT OFFENDER so your chances of becoming a victim are about to go way up.

This is grandstanding. The majority of these cases are sent to family court already.

@Robos 41 ...but the recommendation would bar treating the more egregious criminal cases perpetrated by 16& 17 years olds in the criminal court venues. More importantly, it would seal records for these acts and handicap police from critical information needed to do the people's work.

Right lets make them even less accountable than they are already

Wow, a new slant on Vote for me, and I'll set you free.

WE'RE not making it better or worse, we are making it safer, Andy.
Let's say a college kid from Fordham goes upstate with his cousin in the late fall, and steals an outboard motor from a lakeside boat, and sells it for profit. What would you do with him, Andy?

He went to college at 16 or 17? Good for him. Stealing an outboard without causing injury does seem to be non violent and the article describes that.

Read between the lines, silly

I don't care if the kid is 14, if they commit a serious enough "adult" crime they should be charged and treated as an adult. They can be housed in juvenile detention centers until they're 18 but they need to be taught a lesson.

Gangs and gang violence is on the rise on Long Island. Gangs use the youngest members to commit the more violent crimes knowing that the courts will try them as juveniles and get lighter sentences.

A great recruiting tool for gangs.

Still doesn't mean that they should be treated any different. If they commit they crime they need to do the time, regardless of age. Constantly pandering juvenile offenders only makes the problem worse.

Crime rate and criminals are burning problems of our society. But this measure won`t improve an overall situation. It will only lead to children`s irresponsibility. A strong system of crime prevention and prophylaxy should be established as well as as toughening of children`s access to weapons of different kinds.

Yes, it's a "liberal" thing. 48 other liberal pinko commie states have exactly the same thing but it's NY that's suddenly going soft on crime. Does anyone really think Texas and Arizona are soft on teen criminals?
For those that don't know, most crimes committed by these 16 & 17-year-olds are nonviolent and those nonviolent offenses would likely be handled by Family Court. Currently because they are automatically considered adults they can be denied access to their parents during police questioning and parents do not have to be notified of their arrest or other proceedings. Just to clarify, that's just an arrest, not a conviction, where there's no requirement to prove the 16 or 17-year-old actually did anything. They can also be jailed as adults and placed with adults -- still all without a trial and conviction. Court and police records can be released to the press and are public record -- still without a conviction. Finally, just because the age of criminal responsibility is raised, this change does not mean that a youthful violent offender cannot be prosecuted as an adult depending on the crimes. They still can be and most likely will be for violent crimes.

Great - this will not be an incentive to reduce crime.

"Cuomo's panel noted that while African-Americans and Hispanics make up 33 percent of 16- and 17-year-olds in New York, they account for 72 percent of the arrests in the age group."
Why not eliminate all criminal penalties for black and hispanic gang bangers?
The liberal agenda is to have equality based upon the color of one's skin and not based upon one's actions. The liberals don't care that blacks commit more crimes per capita than any other ethic group. They would like to see the prisons reflect the demographics of the community. Once all the black cells are filled, every black criminal would get a free pass until there was a vacancy. Ridiculous.

How about making it a ballot referendum in November to decide whether or not to change it. Keep it as is. They do the crime, they should be treated as the criminals they are.

Youth advocates, Kathleen Rice and Andrew Cuomo are in favor. All I needed to know. Seems no one responsible for crime except the victim.

Yep, watch out when they say "common sense solutions," as it will be neither common sense or a solution.

At this point do you still wonder why arrests are down in New York City ?

Is it even possible for a democrat to not pander to the criminals?
Pathetic.

Right on..look at our border mess

Sure, let the poor youths (thugs) who go out and shoot and rob people get off the hook for their crimes. This is just more political correctness, by spineless politicians to appease Sharpton and his community.