Ray Kelly: NYC Mayoral Candidates Must Address Public Safety

Public safety should be among the top issues in the New York City mayor's race because "we're at the top of the terrorist target list," New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Wednesday, the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

"It has to be, in my judgment, one of the three or four top issues that are discussed in the next two months," Kelly said. "Public safety is the foundation for just about everything good that's happened in the city in the last 12 years. So, it's something that has to come to the forefront."

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Kelly told "Fox & Friends" that, while the mayoral candidates have not talked about public safety, the media has not asked them about it, either. He said questions should include anticipated policy changes by a new administration and how the candidates view threats to New York.

The Nov. 6 election looks certain to be between Democrat Bill de Blasio and Republican Joe Lhota, with Independent Adolfo Carrion playing a spoiler card. Both de Blasio and Lhota won primaries on Tuesday, although de Blasio still could face a run-off.

"We spend about $200 million a year for our counterterrorism efforts . . . Are people going to be looking to reduce our efforts in that regard? I mean, this is a legitimate question for New Yorkers to ask," Kelly said.

Lhota has expressed strong support for Kelly and is expected to keep him as commissioner should he win. De Blasio, a harsh critic of Kelly's "stop and frisk" policies, says he would replace the commissioner.

Reflecting on the anniversary of 9/11, Kelly said that he was in midtown Manhattan when he heard a plane had hit the World Trade Center.

"I saw the first building fall. I saw the south tower fall. I saw the top of it disappear. Such a horrific sight," he said.

Kelly reflected back to a meeting he had in the lobby of the World Trade Center in 1993.

"I was with the police commissioner sitting in the lobby of the World Trade Center talking to engineers, and I remember them saying this building could never come down," he said.