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Is New York working for New Yorkers? A new report shows fewer shootings, way more tickets
By
Charles Lane
,
Sophia Chang
,
Jessy Edwards
,
Stephen Nessen
and
Elizabeth Kim
Published Sep 15, 2023
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By
Charles Lane
,
Sophia Chang
,
Jessy Edwards
,
Stephen Nessen
and
Elizabeth Kim
Published Sep 15, 2023
Share
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Mayor Eric Adams released the mayor’s management report for fiscal year 2023 on Friday afternoon. It’s an annual analysis of City Hall operations, which dates back to the fiscal crisis of the 1970s.
The 520-page report is a snapshot of the city’s sprawling government and tracks everything from graffiti arrests (up 16% from 2022) to outdoor pool attendance ( down 12% in the same time period). This year's report touts a significant drop in gun violence, a surge in sanitation tickets, and an increase in affordable housing production; it also notes an uptick in felonies, an increase in congestion, and slow progress on new bike lanes.
Here’s an overview of some statistics from the report that offer a glimpse into how the city is faring in terms of safety, sanitation and more.
Public safety and noise complaints
Overall, major felonies such as murders, robberies, and assaults increased slightly from fiscal year 2022, but murders decreased by 9% compared to 2022, and rapes decreased 7% in that same time period.
Shootings dropped 22% compared to the previous year, according to the report. This comes as NYPD has tightened its focus on quality of life issues, doubling the number of quality of life summonses issued to 134,580 in 2023, up from from 67,408 in 2022.
“I think what you’re seeing is NYPD is just now getting back into the game and violence is going down,” said Peter Moskos, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
The report touts a 17% increase in felony arrests compared to 2022, a surge of officer deployments into the transit system, and a year-end count of 34 so-called Neighborhood Safety Teams, which are supposed to be highly trained officers focused on ending violent street crimes, but have been found to make frequent illegal stops, mostly of Black and Hispanic people.
A focus on noise illustrates a theme of this year’s report: although noise complaints have fallen since 2019 (from 61,967 complaints in 2019 down to 50,341 in 2023), so-called “unreasonable” noise summonses have more than tripled in that time period, to 3,979.
“You can't really say whether the quality-of-life summonses can lead to public safety, but they do lead to better quality of life,” said Moskos.
Trash
The Department of Sanitation launched an enforcement surge over the last 12 months. There was a nearly 65% increase in garbage and sanitation violations in the past fiscal year, the new mayor’s management report shows.
The 393,940 sanitation-related tickets issued in fiscal year 2023 represents more than half of all tickets issued by city agencies in that period.
The sanitation department called the ticketing blitz “part of the City’s larger mission to improve all New Yorkers’ quality of life.”
It comes on top of a number of policy changes enacted by the Adams administration which includes later trash setout times and requiring food-related businesses to use lidded trash cans.
Affordable housing
Affordable housing production last year climbed by 4,000 units to 26,700. But that number is still far off pre-pandemic levels, when the city built or preserved 34,300 affordable units in 2020.
Experts have warned that the city’s growth will be stymied unless it can make a serious dent in its affordable housing crisis. A report this year suggested that roughly half of New Yorkers can’t meet their basic needs, including housing.
Housing production is widely linked to state policies and tax incentive programs like 421a, which has now expired, something that many developers say will hinder new housing in the coming years.
In the absence of a statewide plan to build more housing, Adams has sought to loosen zoning and building approval restrictions that often tie up projects for years. Last December, he called for a “moonshot goal” of 500,000 housing units – both affordable and market-rate — by 2032.
Bike lanes, congestion and e-bikes
Mayor Adams pledged to be the “bike mayor” when he ran for office, promising to install 300 miles of bike lanes during his four-year term.
The latest report shows 47.7 miles of bike lanes installed in fiscal year 2023. Unless the amount of lanes increases dramatically in the coming years, Adams will fall well short of his campaign pledge.
Of those bike lanes, just 26 miles were protected bike lanes in the most recent fiscal year – a number far short of the City Council’s Streets Master Plan goal of 50 miles.
The mayor’s management report also was a mixed bag for Citi Bike. The program expanded into new neighborhoods, installing 250 new stations in Queens and Brooklyn. The bikeshare program saw an uptick of about 4,000 more trips, compared to the previous fiscal year. But membership also declined by about 3,000 people.
Other data showed that congestion is getting worse: traffic speeds in Manhattan south of 60th Street dropped to a pitiful 7.8 miles per hour in fiscal year 2023, down from 8.4 miles per hour in fiscal year 2022. That part of Manhattan is expected to see a dramatic decrease in traffic once the MTA’s congestion program launches next year.
City data also shows a crackdown on illegal motorcycles and mopeds that aren’t registered as motor vehicles. According to the report, the NYPD seized 10,409 motorcycles in fiscal year 2023, an increase of more than 3,000 compared to the previous year. The NYPD also seized 5,509 mopeds or scooters, an increase of more than 2,000 compared to the previous fiscal year.
Mass incarceration, Rikers and city jails
The jail population has sharply increased under Mayor Eric Adams, who has prioritized arrests to reduce crime.
People are spending longer behind bars than they have before, the Department of Correction wrote in the report.
In Fiscal Year 2023, the average daily number of people locked in New York City jails rose 6% to 5,873, with new admissions increasing by 22% compared to fiscal year 2022.
More than half of those people have a mental health diagnosis, and about 20% of them have a serious mental health diagnosis, the highest rate in five years, the city reported.
While the average length of stay in city jails decreased from 120 days to 104 days in 2023, people are still being jailed much longer than they were pre-pandemic, with some locked up for more than three years, the correction department said.
This is due to long case-processing times, it said. Almost all people held in city jails have not been convicted of crimes and are awaiting court hearings.
“Data shows that the longer one remains in custody, the likelihood increases that they will be involved in a violent incident,” the report stated. It also noted that people are “more prone to serious acts of violence” while detained.
There were 387 reports of slashings and stabbings in city jails in 2023, down 21% from the year before. There were also fewer fights and fewer assaults on staff, the department reported, but more violent incidents between people in custody.
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Charles Lane
Charles is a Day-of reporter focused on breaking news and enterprise. He’s very friendly and can be reached at [email protected], or more securely on whatsapp/signal 631-295-6715
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Sophia Chang
Sophia Chang is a former WNYC and Gothamist reporter.
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Jessy Edwards
Jessy Edwards covers incarceration and public safety. Before working at Gothamist/WNYC, she covered daily and breaking news at NBC New York and Brooklyn news at BK Reader. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Stephen Nessen
Stephen Nessen covers transportation. Since 2008 he has reported on everything from Occupy Wall Street, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, Hurricane Sandy, to Trump’s campaign for president. His transportation reporting has taken him everywhere from the MTA’s secret Rail Control Center to the gleaming subways of Seoul. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Elizabeth Kim
Elizabeth Kim is a reporter on the People and Power desk who covers mayoral power. She previously covered the pandemic, housing, redevelopment and public spaces. A native of Queens, she speaks fluent Mandarin. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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