REUTERS/Kent J Edwards
Mayor Adams was right Monday in touting significant drops in murders and shootings this past fiscal year.
But make no mistake: Crime rates, including murders and shootings, are still far too high, especially compared to just a few years ago.
Parts of the city are even seeing spikes in serious crime.
Meanwhile, you can’t even buy toothpaste without having to find a store clerk to unlock a showcase.
Fact is, the city has a long, long way to go just to get back to pre-pandemic safety levels.
“Overall crime rates have fallen over the last fiscal year, driven by another year of double digit decreases in murders and shootings,” Adams boasted as he released his Mayor’s Management Report. “Our police officers are working harder than ever to keep New Yorkers safe.”
Indeed, murders from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, plummeted 15% from the preceding year. Shootings dropped 18%. Gang violence also fell.
And Adams is also right that cops have to work harder, given their reduced ranks — and that progressives keep slapping more handcuffs on them while making it easier to commit crimes.
Yet murders are still up 13%, shootings 14%, through Sunday, versus the same period five years ago.
Robberies are 32% higher; felony assaults, 41%; and car thefts, 177%.
Overall, felonies remain a full third above levels five years ago.
And the trend in some key parts of the city is far from encouraging: In Manhattan’s Midtown North Precinct (Rockefeller Plaza, the Theater District, etc.) robberies through Sept. 8 have nearly doubled, compared to 2023. Felony assaults rose 73%; burglaries, 58%.
Tuesday, a 39-year-old man was shot during an attempted robbery right in the heart of Times Square.
No, Adams didn’t drive crime up: The state’s disastrous criminal-justice reforms took effect before he took office, ensuring more crime.
But he can demand a larger force and even make a stronger case to undo the “reforms.”
Meanwhile, Hizzoner has been busy searching for a new police commish, after his first two quit.
And no one even knows who really runs the department, as Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks and top Adams aide Tim Pearson (both under investigation) supposedly “oversee” it.
New Yorkers elected Adams in large part to lower crime. If he can’t make more progress, they’ll have big doubts about doing so again.