Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

Vital City

Vital City

  • The Compounding Relationship Between Violence and Urban Inequality

    Emergency (photo: Edwin J. Torres/Mayoral Photo Office)


    At the start of the 1960s, just over four out of every 100,000 Americans were murdered each year. The murder rate rose sharply during that decade, and then fluctuated between 8 and 10 murders per 100,000 for most of the 1980s and early 1990s, before it began to fall in the mid-1990s. By 2014, the murder rate had fallen to 4.4 murders for every 100,000 people, back to where it stood at the beginning of the 1960s.

    That year, 2014, was one of the safest in our nation’s

    ...
  • Gun Violence is The Crime Problem

    Mayor Adams & President Biden discuss gun violence (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    In 2020, there were 375,800 fewer serious crimes in America compared to 2019, about a 5% decline. Amidst the overall decline, one specific type of crime ran counter to trend: murders, most of which are committed with guns, were up by 5,000, a rise of nearly 30%.

    How should we think about these statistics? Should we be happy that serious crime is down or concerned about the increase in homicides? We argue this trend is actually bad news overall. As Berkeley criminologists Franklin Zimring and Gordon

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  • Stemming Violence by Investing in Civic Goods

    Summer Youth Employment Program rally (photo: William Alatriste/City Council)


    The criminal justice system is not the only entity that contributes to public safety. There is evidence from across the United States on “civic goods” — interventions, unrelated to the criminal justice system, that have been shown to have meaningful effects on violent crime in the short- to medium-term. 

    Interventions for Children and Teens
    Many kids don’t feel safe going to school each day due to violent crime....