Dittmeier 1 Kelsey Dittmeier July 25, 2013. COR-390-02: Gotham: The New York Experience Dr.

Michael Russo/Professor Damian Hey Research Paper #2

A History of Crime and its False Perceptions in New York City Although New York City is deemed the greatest city in the world, it also is perceived by many to be among the most dangerous. When people often think of New York City they tend to believe that there is a lot of crime that occurs within its confines, hence giving it the reputation of a bad area. This is one setback as to why others seem to be hesitant on deciding to visit New York City. Another thing that may sway people from having the desire to come to New York City is the false perception that they may be harmed by a complete stranger as opposed to someone they might know. Some of the things that many people believe may happen to them in New York City are that if they roam the city at any time (during the day or night) they will get either murdered, mugged, raped, or a combination of the three. This used to be true in the 1970s and 1980s when the city was drug-infested and crime rates were high, but during the 1990s and early 2000s the city experienced a significant change with the help of Mayors Rudolph Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg. However, many people do not realize that crime rates in urban areas like New York City are now at an all-time low for violent and property crimes (NYTimes.com). There are many different types of crimes, among them are violent and property crimes. Rand, Klaus and Taylor state that: violent crime refers to events such as homicide, rape, and assault that may result in injury to a person (The Criminal Event). In other words, crimes are

Dittmeier 2 classified as violent crimes if they threaten the safety or actually cause harm to another person. Similarly, Rand Klaus and Taylor also note that: property crimes are unlawful acts with the intent of gaining property but which do not involve the use or threat of force against an individual[among these are] larceny, burglary, andvehicle theft (The Criminal Event). Both violent and property crimes are among the most common in urban areas today, and were especially prominent during the 1970s and 1980s in New York City. During the 1970s and 1980s, crime in New York was out of control. The entire nation was going through a rough economic deficit as well because the U.S. was still in debt from the costs of the Vietnam War in the 1960s, along with the fact that the government was being bashed because of political scandals like Watergate that occurred during the early 1970s (Digitaljournalist.org). This monetary loss due to the war, the loss of respect for politicians because of the Watergate Scandal, and poor accounting practices were hurting the city in terms of money and were ultimately the causes for other domestic crimes within the city itself. Dr. Brent Paterline states:

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, New York City was a dangerous place. Many residents feared riding the subways, hookers and drug dealers dominated Times Square, and city parks became homes to muggers. Crime was rampant, and the police seemed powerless to stop it (The City that Became Safe: New Yorks Lessons for Urban Crime and Its Control [Studies in Crime and Public Policy]).

Although the 1970s brought much hardship for New York City, things started to look up in the 1980s with the election of Mayor Ed Koch.

Dittmeier 3 Mayor Ed Koch helped rescue New York City out of poverty in the 1980s. He is credited with leading the city government back from near bankruptcy in the 1970s to prosperity in the 1980sand also began one of the citys most ambitious housing programs [to get some of the poor off the streets] (McFadden, Edward I. Koch, a Mayor as Brash, Shrewd and Colorful as the City He Led, Dies at 88). Aside from some of the restoration that Koch has done for the city, Rand, Klaus, and Taylor present statistics which show that:

in 1980, the homicide rate was the highest level in this centuryamong the crimes most likely to happen during evening or nighttime hours were motor vehicle theft (68%), and serious violent offenses such as personal robbery (58%) and aggravated assault (56%). Among the crimes least likely to happen at night were simple assault (48%), purse snatching and pocket picking (38%), and personal larceny without contact (45%) (The Criminal Event).

In other words, most of the crimes that were more likely to occur at night were violent crimes and a majority of the property crimes to have happened in New York City occurred during the day. This is a common trend and thieves would be more likely to commit violent crimes at night when it is dark out and no one is around to see them or to provide the victim any aid. Crime rates were also still high in the 1980s with the increase in the number of gangs and with the spread of the crack-cocaine epidemic. It was not until the 1990s that crime rates started to decrease significantly. From the 1990s until today, the crime rates in New York City have dropped so much that Rand, Klaus, and Taylor call it one of the most dramatic drops in crime in modern

Dittmeier 4 historywhile the entire United States witnessed a forty percent drop in crime between 1991 and 2000, New York City was unique in that its drop in crime was twice as large and lasted twice as long. (The Criminal Event). The major drop in the crime rate in New York City during the 1990s was because of the reforms of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Giuliani came into office after failed attempts to lower the crime rate from David Dinkins administration. Giuliani implemented what is known as the broken windows theory, or the idea that small crimes should be emphasized as much as large ones and a neighborhood should appear to be clean and free from any signs of disarray, like broken windows (Giuliani, Saving a broken city). In other words, Giuliani wanted to give off the impression that New York City was a clean neighborhood by emphasizing the laws and cracking down (getting tough) on minor crimes. One way this has been applied is by increasing the number of police officers and placing them on patrol in various locations throughout the city. Giuliani is most famous for cracking down on the squeegee guys, or patrons who would loiter by the citys busiest bridges and wash the windshields of cars looking for monetary tips. If an individual were to commit a minor offense, the law would be enforced and they would have to pay a summons or serve time because it was still deemed a crime under the law. Another great mayor that has helped continue to reduce crime rates in New York City is still in office today: Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Mayor Michael Bloomberg is among many mayors that have helped mitigate the crime rates in New York City, mainly because of his stop-and-frisk policy. Stop-and-frisk is exactly as the name suggests: if an individual is deemed suspicious while roaming the streets, a police officer has the right to stop, question, and search the individual for any weapons or objects that may be used to harm another. There is a lot of controversy behind the fairness of this policy; many people believe that it is racially unfair because a number of minority individuals have

Dittmeier 5 supposedly been stopped and frisked more than whites. Many people do not realize how that issue is related more to the decisions of the police officers who are actually stopping and searching than that of Mayor Bloomberg himself. Despite this controversy, the new policy proves to be successful because statistical data from Newsday shows that the total number of violent and property crimes have decreased significantly from 55,098 in 2007 to 50,858 in 2011 under Mayor Bloombergs administration (Newsday.com). According to Wendy Ruderman, [out of the homicide statistics] the likelihood of being killed by a stranger was slight. The vast majority of the homicides, Mr. [Ray] Kelly said, grew out of disputes between a victim and killer who knew each other (NYTimes.com). Aside from helping lower the crime rates, Mayor Bloomberg is also taking action to beautify the city of Manhattan and make it more aesthetically appealing to both tourists and natives. The recent introduction of bike lanes and the creation of pedestrian plazas throughout the cityare an attempt to create public outdoor spaces where locals and tourists alike can congregate in a pleasant and safe environment (Opencityprojects.com). This open space is helping the flow of traffic by attracting people to the sites and encouraging them to walk around or take a new Citibike as opposed to driving a car. It also helps merchants improve their businesses because they are often seen setting up small stands and selling their products to passers-by. Many peoples beliefs about crime in urban areas like New York City seem to be true, but only to a certain extent. New York City had a high rate of violent and property crimes in the 1970s and 1980s because of bankruptcy and a large drug ring. This all turned around in the 1990s when Mayor Rudolph Giuliani began placing more police officers in different areas of the city, as well as enforcing stricter laws and cracking down on even the smallest of infringements

Dittmeier 6 based on the broken window theory. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, another of the citys greatest mayors, came after him and has helped lower the crime rates even more with his controversial stop-and-frisk policy in which an officer has the right to stop a person if they seem suspicious of carrying a weapon or intending to harm another. Despite popular belief, crime rates are so low these days that it is actually more likely that someone you know is more likely to kill you than a complete strangerthe city has become much safer than it once was back in the 1970s and 1980s when crime was rampant. Bloomberg is also visually taking NYC to the next level and beautifying it with the installation of bike lanes and plazas in some of the busiest areas of the city. Mayor Bloomberg really knows how to get the job done and make New York City a betterlooking and safer city for all, and will hopefully continue to do so for the future.

Dittmeier 7 Works Cited "New York City Crime Rates." Newsday.com. Newsday, 2013. Web. 25 July 2013. <http://data.newsday.com/long-island/data/crime/new-york-city-crime-rate/>. "The Beautification of New York City Streets." Opencityprojects.com. OpenCity Projects Inc., 26 July 2011. Web. 25 July 2013. <http://opencityprojects.com/blog/health/thebeautification-of-new-york-city-streets/>. Dailey, Kate. "Who, What, Why: What Happened to Crime in New York City?" BBC.co.uk. BBC, 29 Nov. 2012. Web. 25 July 2013. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine20536359>. Giuliani, Rudolph W. "Saving a Broken City." NYPost.com. NYP Holdings, Inc., 16 May 2012. Web. 25 July 2013. <http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/saving_broken_city_ktuDrZuvf rbVd3yw1UWiGJ>. McFadden, Robert D. "Edward I. Koch, a Mayor as Brash, Shrewd, and Colorful as the City He Led, Dies at 88." NYTimes.com. The New York Times Company, 1 Feb. 2013. Web. 25 July 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/02/nyregion/edward-i-koch-ex-mayor-ofnew-york-dies.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0>. Paterline, Brent. "The City That Became Safe: New York's Lessons for Urban Crime and Its Control (Studies in Crime and Public Policy)." International Social Science Review87.3/4 (2012): 180-81. ProQuest Social Science Journals. Web. 25 July 2013. <http://search.proquest.com.molloy.idm.oclc.org/socscijournals/docview/1335078136/ful ltextPDF/13F7ED79E6A2290448F/3?accountid=28076>.

Dittmeier 8 Rand, M., P. Klaus, and B. Taylor. "The Criminal Event." Report to the Nation on Crime and Justice (1983): 1-16. Web. 25 July 2013. <http://www.radford.edu/~junnever/articles/criminalevent.pdf>. Ruderman, Wendy. "414 Homicides in '12 Is a Record Low for New York City."NYTimes.com. The New York Times Company, 28 Dec. 2012. Web. 25 July 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/29/nyregion/414-homicides-is-a-record-low-for-newyork.html?_r=0>. Tannenbaum, Allan. "New York in the 70s: A Remembrance." Digitaljournalist.org. The Digital Journalist, Feb. 2004. Web. 25 July 2013. <http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0402/at_intro.html>.