And a series of shootings in recent days has highlighted the challenges in halting a rise in violent crime taking place in cities across the country.
The increase comes after gun violence hit an all-time low in 2018 and 2019 and the city is still safer than in previous years. But as New Yorkers emerged from the shutdowns that marked the start of the pandemic, many found the city more dangerous than when the coronavirus first swept New York in the spring of 2020.
In response, Mr. Adams recently deployed about half a dozen new anti-arms police units. Police have also come to target so-called quality-of-life violations, recalling their past embrace of police with “broken windows” – the stricter enforcement of minor offenses in an effort to prevent more serious crimes.
“No more mass shootings. No more disrupting lives. Stop creating heartbreak for people who are just trying to live their lives like normal New Yorkers,” Governor Kathy Hochul said Tuesday. “It has to stop, it stops now.”
Mr. Adams has also focused on transit crime as he and transit leaders attempt to lure riders back to the subway, which he sees as a critical conduit for the city’s economic recovery. Citing customer surveys, the transport authority said the perception that the system is unsafe has deterred many former passengers from returning.
So far, this year’s major transit crime has been roughly equal to pre-pandemic levels, even if passenger numbers are significantly lower. As of March this year, 563 major crimes had been reported, compared to 559 in the same period in 2019, but passenger numbers are less than 60 percent of prepandemic levels.
“I grew up in New York in the 1970s. The system is much more secure than when I was a kid,” Lieber, the head of the transportation authority, told DailyExpertNews. “But there’s no doubt that we’ve had some high-profile incidents and some statistics that are alarming.”
Reporting contributed by Jonah E. Bromwich† Troy Closson† Emma G. Fitzsimmons† Joseph Goldstein† Andrew Hinderaker† Sadef Ali Kully† Ana Ley† Andy Newman† Chelsea Rose Marcius† William K. Rashbaum† Ashley Southall† Glenn Thrush† Ashley Wong and Karen Zraick†