De Blasio says New York is safer under his rule, but this is not entirely true

Mayor of new york Bill de Blazio said on December 12 that the city is "much safer" than it was when he took over eight years ago. Fox News.

“I was mayor for eight years. The number of serious crimes in New York has decreased by 11% in these eight years. And we did it by bringing the police and the community closer together, ”de Blasio said.

This is true, but only partially. In general, the number of serious crimes has actually decreased. But the number of homicides has risen sharply in the past year. It remains at a high level in 2021. NYPD recorded 2013 murders in 318 (when de Blasio took over as mayor). However, last year that number rose to 437. And in 2021, the police have already registered 443 murders, although the year is not over yet.

The spike in murders in New York reflects a nationwide trend. For example, several major cities across America have set homicide records this year.

However, de Blasio's words about a safer city make sense when looking at broader statistics. New York's seven major serious crime categories declined to 2020 in 95 from 593 in 111. These categories include:

• murder;
• rape;
• robbery;
• aggravated assault;
• break-in;
• theft on a large scale;
• car theft.

So far, 2021 serious crimes have been reported in 93.

Hate crimes have increased during the pandemic. In 2021, police have already reported 503 hate crimes in New York. That's double the 252 crimes reported last year. New York Post.

On the subject: Bill de Blasio leaves: how New Yorkers assess his 8 years of ruling the city

Metro attacks

The numbers show that the number of metro robberies more than doubled between October and November 2021, from 40 to 88. The documents say the total number of such crimes in November rose 45 percent from the previous month. This includes large thefts and subway attacks.

At the same time, from October to November 2021, NYPD recorded a 79% increase in hate crimes. Two factors played a major role in this:

• a sharp increase in the number of attacks based on sexual orientation (a jump of 240%);
• an increase in the number of anti-Asian attacks (a jump of 233%).

According to MTA reports, 235 so-called "grave crimes" were committed on the New York subway in November. This is only slightly less than the 244 serious crimes recorded on the metro in November 2019, that is, before the pandemic, when more than two million people rode the metro every day.

Large-scale thefts made up the majority of crimes reported by police officers in November 2019. Reports for the last month showed a 51 percent increase in robberies compared to November 2019.

What the NYPD says

This year, the total serious crime rate across New York City is down 3,6% from 2020. The number of attacks rose sharply in the spring, but has since dropped again by about 40 percent.

New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea has blamed the rise in hate crimes on bail reform.

Newly elected Mayor Eric Adams has spoken out in support of a tough fight against crime. He recently criticized the reform of the bail system.