I have lived in NYC since 1975. Survived the Beame/Koch "do nothing and it will pass" system that reduced the city to a crime ridden cesspool then Dinkens and it got worse to the stage where I carried a gun since I knew the cops weren't going to protect me.

Then Guliani came on the scene and within 18 months of directed police enforcement of Quality of Life and Puiblic Order crimes we turned it around and the city got better.

Yes we gave up some Public freedoms-mainly the attitude of "**** the Police". If you gave the cops **** they kicked your ass and put you in the Concrete Hilton.

Yes the majority of those in stir were minorities but the fact that 80% of the crime was done by minorities was the cause.

Then the economy turned around and minority kids were able to get jobs...guess what CRIME DROPPED!

Bloomberg has done a decent job of keeping the system up to the mark but with the huge economic downturn and large numbers of minority layoffs in Construction and Retail the crime rate is inching back up...no where near the late 70's early 80's but definately up. I see broken car window glass on the street much more, threatening looks from disenfranchised youth, urglaries and street crime are up, etc...

The .38 is still in the drawer but I have found that there are good folks out there that do not want to see the bad times come back.

NYC is still a place where common citizens get involved and stop crimes when they happen. the cops cannot do it all.

You are still safer in NYC than Atlanta, Washingtion DC, Baltimore, Charlotte, LA, Phoenix, New Orleans, Miami, London, Moscow, Odessa, Paris, BudaPest...all have person to person crimes rates double that of NYC. With the exception of London all have much smaller municipal police forces on the street.