Ex-Gov. David Paterson says it’s “really annoying’’ how New York’s laws have become too lenient on “coddled” juvenile defenders — after he and his stepson were recently attacked by vicious youths on a city street.
“We have overcompensated for what used to happen to youth offenders,” Paterson said on 770 WABC radio Sunday, referring to historic abuses of juveniles in youth detention facilities.
“The pendulum has now swung the other way to the point that the criminal-justice system is treating these kids who start these fights as if they should be coddled,” said the former gov, who is 70 and legally blind.
“It’s really annoying,” he told John Catsimatidis, host of the “Cats Roundtable.”
Paterson and his stepson, Anthony Sliwa, 20, were beaten by a rowdy brat pack and two city Housing
Authority workers while walking the family’s dog on an Upper East Side sidewalk Oct. 4 , authorities and the pair have said.