Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

How New York Became Safe: The Full Story
City Journal ^ | 2009 | George L. Kelling

Posted on 11/15/2024 1:20:37 PM PST by CondoleezzaProtege

Just 20 years ago, New York City was racked with crime: murders, burglaries, drug deals, car thefts, thefts from cars. (Remember the signs in car windows advising no radio?) Unlike many cities’ crime problems, New York’s were not limited to a few inner-city neighborhoods that could be avoided. Bryant Park, in the heart of midtown and adjacent to the New York Public Library, was an open-air drug market; Grand Central Terminal, a gigantic flophouse; the Port Authority Bus Terminal, “a grim gauntlet for bus passengers dodging beggars, drunks, thieves, and destitute drug addicts,” as the New York Times put it in 1992. In July 1985, the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City published a study showing widespread fear of theft and assault in downtown Brooklyn, Fordham Road in the Bronx, and Jamaica Center in Queens. Riders abandoned the subway in droves, fearing assault from lunatics and gangs.

New York’s drop in crime during the 1990s was correspondingly astonishing—indeed, “one of the most remarkable stories in the history of urban crime,” according to University of California law professor Franklin Zimring. While other cities experienced major declines, none was as steep as New York’s. Most of the criminologists’ explanations for it—the economy, changing drug-use patterns, demographic changes—have not withstood scrutiny. Readers of City Journal will be familiar with the stronger argument that the New York Police Department’s adoption of quality-of-life policing and of such accountability measures as Compstat was behind the city’s crime drop.

Yet that explanation isn’t the whole story. Learning the rest is more than an academic exercise, for if we can understand fully what happened in New York, we not only can adapt it to other cities but can ensure that Gotham’s crime gains aren’t lost in today’s cash-strapped environment...

(Excerpt) Read more at city-journal.org ...


TOPICS: History; Society
KEYWORDS: diblasio; ericadams; fakenews; giuliani; newyork; nyc; reallyfakenews
* NOTE: article is from 2009, but lessons are still relevant for ALL major US cities!
1 posted on 11/15/2024 1:20:37 PM PST by CondoleezzaProtege
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: CondoleezzaProtege
a grim gauntlet for bus passengers dodging beggars, drunks, thieves, and destitute drug addicts


2 posted on 11/15/2024 1:23:02 PM PST by DoodleBob (Gravity's waiting period is about 9.8 m/s² )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: CondoleezzaProtege

I’m not clicking over to read the whole article, but since the excerpt doesn’t give credit to Rudy G, then I wonder if the rest of the article does so.


3 posted on 11/15/2024 1:24:59 PM PST by Responsibility2nd (Climate Change is Real. Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: CondoleezzaProtege

4 posted on 11/15/2024 1:25:06 PM PST by z3n (Kakistocracy)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Responsibility2nd
I’m not clicking over to read the whole article, but since the excerpt doesn’t give credit to Rudy G, then I wonder if the rest of the article does so.

It does. He has been on my mind lately after Trump won. I pray everything that's been taken from him for being so loyal to Trump these past few years will be restored. Including his health. :(

5 posted on 11/15/2024 1:26:29 PM PST by CondoleezzaProtege
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: CondoleezzaProtege

Rudy G enforced the law... especially the small ones. When people see the law is enforced, they get in line and the citizenry feels safer.

Didn’t spend a lot on my analysis. How’d I do?


6 posted on 11/15/2024 1:32:08 PM PST by pgyanke (Republicans get in trouble when not living up to their principles. Democrats... when they do.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

*


7 posted on 11/15/2024 1:35:48 PM PST by PMAS (Vote with your wallets, there are 80 million of us - No China made, No Amazon)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: CondoleezzaProtege

I lived at Fort Hamilton from 1996-1999, and worked in Brooklyn till 2002. Rudy Guiliani hammered the law breakers until a whole lot of them decided to do something else for a living.

I was there in the mid-80’s watching the horror show Manhatten had become.


8 posted on 11/15/2024 1:50:55 PM PST by wbarmy (Trying to do better.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: CondoleezzaProtege

I find it funny that since Eric Adams started pushing back against Biden’s plans to turn NYC into a complete city of illegals, he is being targeted by the DOJ/FBI.


9 posted on 11/15/2024 1:53:50 PM PST by Responsibility2nd (Climate Change is Real. Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Responsibility2nd
Investigation.

 

  https://www.perplexity.ai/search/why-is-eric-adams-bing-investi-zQOg0qgjTimBynd_2AHmPA

10 posted on 11/15/2024 1:54:43 PM PST by Responsibility2nd (Climate Change is Real. Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: wbarmy

Manhattan.


11 posted on 11/15/2024 2:37:39 PM PST by arthurus (covfefe gut)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: CondoleezzaProtege

I used to have NYC layovers when I was flying in the 90s. I walked all over New York alone. One time I even went to a bar in the Village by myself to see some friends whose band was playing there. Got there solo, made it back to the hotel late at night, no problems. Had a great time!


12 posted on 11/15/2024 2:40:52 PM PST by ponygirl (Stay gold.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: CondoleezzaProtege

How did it become safe? Ask Rudy and Ray Kelly,his Police Commissioner.


13 posted on 11/15/2024 2:43:49 PM PST by Gay State Conservative (Import The Third World,Become The Third World)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: CondoleezzaProtege

Demoncrats like their cities to be third world sh!tholes.


14 posted on 11/15/2024 5:24:45 PM PST by RetiredTexasVet (We used to be a Republic, we are now a Fascist Klepto-Thugocracy. until Jan 20, 2025)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: CondoleezzaProtege

I’m surprised this post didn’t begin with “once upon a time”.


15 posted on 11/15/2024 5:54:50 PM PST by antidemoncrat ( )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson