The path to a NYC recovery
Our city is facing violent crime levels not seen in a decade. Felony assaults went up 27% across the MTA system between January 2020 and January 2021 despite 70% fewer riders using our trains and buses. Transit workers have also faced an intolerable increased risk of attack. In 2020, hate crimes were up 900% against Asians alone. Women are being targeted — in near-empty train stations and in their neighborhoods.
If trends continue, this is a surefire way to slow the recovery our city desperately needs.
The spike in crime should not be surprising. Our social fabric is fraying. The city has an unemployment rate double the national average. Too many schools remain closed. Many New Yorkers are stuck in cramped, sometimes deteriorating, public and private housing they’ve barely been able to leave since last March.
Restoring public safety while tackling our economic problems is a monumental task. But we need to focus on it now if we’re going to build back a stronger, safer city for tomorrow.
First, the NYPD has to actually solve crimes and be held accountable when they don’t. The clearance rate for murders — which means the percent of those crimes that end in an arrest — dropped by 16 percentage points from 2019 to 2020. Increased scrutiny of policing practices is no excuse for unsolved crimes. In my administration, lieutenants and captains won’t get promoted if they can’t improve these rates. The current administration should take this stance today.
Next, like I called for over a week ago, we need more police on our subways. But now that the city and MTA have agreed to do that, we need to be strategic about how we deploy them. Patrolling platforms is one thing, keeping transit hubs safe overall is another. Women have been attacked not just in subway stations, but near them. At a time when offices, restaurants, and nightlife are still partially shut down, transit hubs are one of the few areas of steady foot traffic. If we’re going to get New Yorkers back on subways and buses to work, cultural institutions, and our incredible nightlife, we need to ensure their commute to mass transit is just as safe as when they’re riding it. That’s why I want at least as many cops above ground, patrolling the areas within a few blocks of subway and bus stops. This will provide stronger security to both straphangers and the neighborhood. Just as important, research shows that the mere presence of police in hotspots can deter crime, without increasing arrests.
While short-term increases in police presence should be part of the solution to safeguarding today’s hot spots, they won’t duplicate the benefits of a police force that knows what it’s like to live and work in those same neighborhoods. This is why I want all new officers live in the five boroughs — something many other municipal workers, including NYPD civilian employees, already must do, yet officers overwhelmingly do not. Neighborhood policing requires having police actually live in our neighborhoods. The symbol of officers commuting by subway would be a welcome addition to our public safety strategy.
To be sure, combating crime requires more than leaning on the NYPD. That’s why I will have a deputy mayor of public safety. This appointee will provide me with a daily morning briefing on whether we’re pushing down crime and allocating resources effectively. We need a far more integrated public safety strategy. Amazing programs are being pursued, including violence interrupters and mental health responders, but we need a point person to ensure that every program is coordinated and every resource is scrutinized for efficacy.
These actions will aid in our effort to confront the reality New York faces. Restoring trust that our city is safe will help jump-start the recovery. But economic growth is only meaningful if all New Yorkers share in it. It’s not lost on me that the people who were killed on the A train, and the man who was arrested for it, were both experiencing homelessness.
Our strategy to address the root of a tragic incident like this one must include real supportive housing for people who need both housing and real mental health services. This requires better partnership with Albany.
At the city level, I am proposing an annual $1 billion basic income program for 500,000 of the poorest New Yorkers, starting with people who need more help from the government. That will be a key part of driving my goal of a 50%-plus reduction in street homelessness during my first term.
There’s no silver bullet for a recovery. But there are problems that will sink any chance we have. When it comes to creating the successful conditions for an economic and social bounce back, making neighborhoods safe is chief among them.