Low crime, high temps

Top cop predicts peaceful summer

The Big Apple could notch another record-low crime rate this year, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton crowed Sunday as the city headed into the unofficial start of summer.

But his prediction was met with scorn from some New Yorkers, who were more concerned with navigating a long, hot and potentially violent season than “flat” overall crime stats.

Bratton (inset) expressed confidence regarding public safety during a radio interview one day before the Memorial Day, when violence traditionally spikes as people spend more time outdoors.

“The crime numbers for this year in most categories are looking very good,” Bratton told AM970 host John Catsimatidis. “Murders are down, shootings are down.

“We really do expect, based on our current trending, that crime at the end of the year will possibly hit historic lows,” he added.

The top cop even suggested he was accounting for the likelihood that the body count would rise along with the mercury.

“As we go into the summer months — and Memorial Day is the kick-off for the summer months — that’s a good way to start the summer months, with crime down,” he said.

At Brooklyn Bridge Park — where Pier 2 has repeatedly been shut down in recent weeks due to violence — several visitors didn’t share Bratton’s optimism.

“I’ve never really trusted statistics because I find that life always gets in the way of numbers,” said Wei Chang, 25, of Williamsburg.

Abbie Cunningham, 32, of Dumbo, who was at the park with her 2-year-daughter, said she wished that Bratton would “acknowledge the much different story we’re seeing on the ground.”

“Every year, you hear the same statistics, and they always point to crime being really, really low,” she said. “But somehow the statistics don’t seem to match reality.”