Hats off to the police - New Yorkers say they're grateful for much safer city

NY Daily ^ | 12/3/03 | CARRIE MELAGO, SONI SANGHA and GREG GITTRICH

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

From Bronx bodegas to Belle Harbor beaches, New Yorkers heartily toasted the NYPD yesterday for making the city the safest it's been in at least 35 years.

"I don't see much crime," said Mike Sheridan, a 46-year-old banker who lives in Tribeca.

"I feel like I can enjoy a cup of coffee and not worry about looking over my shoulder," agreed Lorenzo Rodriguez, 30, a security guard from the South Bronx.

"The cops are doing a great job," declared Bill Brooks, 68, a restaurant owner from Bayside, Queens. "They're perfect as far as I'm concerned."

One day after the Daily News reported on how major crime was down another 5.6% this year, we sent reporters out to all five boroughs to ask 100 New Yorkers:

Do you feel safer?

The answer: A resounding yes.

Forty-six people said the city was no-doubt-about-it safer. Only 28 people told The News they don't feel safer. An additional 26 said that things hadn't changed, but most of them feel safe.

It all adds up to a big "thank you" for the NYPD.

"Definitely the neighborhood has gotten safer," said Gabrielle Ettlinger, a 30-year-old vegan baker from Brooklyn's Prospect Heights. "Less drug dealers. Less boarded-up houses. It's much cleaner and safer."

Yet even in these feel-good times, New Yorkers repeatedly told The News they would like more cops on patrol.

"I want to see uniformed police," said Bernie Lewis, 81, of Jackson Heights, Queens, who owns a car dealership. "I want the thieves to see the uniformed police."

Norma David, 22, said cops need to do more in her Bronx neighborhood. "There are not enough police," said David, a marketing representative. "Two weeks ago, my sister got robbed right by a police station.``"

And in East New York, Brooklyn, Jerry Gaboton said he doesn't see how the crime statistics could be accurate.

"There's too much fights, gunshots," Gaboton said. "It's not safe, period. It used to be 10 cops walking around. Now, not anymore."

The latest positive statistics come after a stunning 10-year trend that saw double-digit declines in all serious crimes.

"It's all because of Giuliani," Paul Braz, 22, said of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is credited with making New York the safest big city in the nation.

Others praised Mayor Bloomberg for keeping crime on the ropes despite added terrorist threats and budget problems that forced the city to cut the size of the Police Department.

Bloomberg said the department is "doing a spectacular job."

"The first basic of a civilized society is that you can go out on the streets, whether you're going to school or to work or to enjoy yourself, and not have to look over your shoulder," Bloomberg said.

The mayor added that average New Yorkers deserve a lot of thanks.

"When the public says: 'I'm not going to take it anymore,'" he said, "the public gets what it wants."

[cajungirl]

It is amazing when you remember what bad press, from the liberal press, that Giuliani took. Liberals hated him, called him a nazi, said he was depriving everyone of liberty, sort of what Ashcroft gets nowadays. I used to just be stunned, wondering if the people of new york liked crime and panhandlers so much. Apparently they didn't but the liberals just want chaos, the more the better.