Adams celebrates making NYC ‘safer, cleaner, more affordable’

New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Monday celebrated what he described as another year of making New York City “safer, cleaner and more affordable for hardworking New Yorkers.”

Adams said the celebration is in light of the latest Mayor’s Management Report (MMR) for Fiscal Year 2024 that assesses city agency performance for all of Fiscal Year 2023, from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024.

The report shows significant improvements in the areas New Yorkers care about most – public safety, housing, affordability and quality of life.

“New Yorkers elected this administration because they wanted a safer, more affordable city, and this year’s MMR shows that we’re continuing to deliver exactly that,” said Mayor Adams.

“We are moving full-speed-ahead on our initiatives to get illegal guns, illegal mopeds, and black trash bags off the streets; breaking housing record after housing record; and helping put billions of dollars back into the pockets of working-class New Yorkers – and residents of the five boroughs are seeing the results. New York City isn’t just coming back, and it’s not just back – thanks to our administration, it’s better than ever,” he added.

In the MMR report, major felony crime overall decreased again this fiscal year, driven by a 15 percent decrease in murders and an 18 percent decrease in shootings.

The report says the NYPD continued to increase its level of enforcement, with a 10 percent increase in major felony crime arrests, 34 percent increase in summonses for quality-of-life infractions, and 25 percent increase in summonses for transit infractions.

The New York City Department of Transportation installed 27 percent more protected bike lanes and 73 percent more bike parking spaces – both the second most ever built in a year – and 94 percent more speed reducers, the most on record, the report says.

It says public safety agencies seized more than 20,000 illegal mopeds and scooters – nearly four times more than in the previous fiscal year.

The report says New York City’s jails were safer, with fewer stabbings and slashings, fewer injuries due to assaults on staff or violent incidents among people in custody, and fewer weapons recovered than in the previous fiscal year.

There were fewer fires, 27 percent fewer civilian fire fatalities, and 26 percent fewer firefighter injuries requiring leave – driven by the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) and Mayor Adams’ E-Micromobility Task Force’s work on lithium-ion batteries, the MMR report says.

It says the FDNY, the New York City Department of Buildings, and the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) all completed more inspections than in the previous fiscal year.

HPD issued 24 percent more violations and responded to emergency problems 10 percent faster than in the previous fiscal year.

The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) abated 54 percent more units for lead, part of Mayor Adams’ commitment to prioritize NYCHA residents.

The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks) planted approximately 42,000 trees – a 35 percent increase from the previous fiscal year, and the most trees planted since FY17 – to protect New Yorkers from extreme heat.

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection cleared obstructed catch basins 24 percent faster than in the previous fiscal year.

The MMR report says 25 percent more families signed up for subsidized child care – now less than $5 per week for a family making $55,000 per year, down from $55 per week – than in the previous fiscal year. More families used MyCity to submit their applications for subsidized child care, increasing by 382 percent.

NYCHA placed 19 percent more youth in jobs through its on-site jobs programs and partnerships with the New York City Department of Community and Youth Development, the report says.

It says that more young New Yorkers than ever participated in free Summer Rising, Summer Youth Employment, recreation center, and NYC Parks youth programming – programs expanded and protected by the Adams administration.

The New York City Department of Small Business Services helped 19 percent more businesses open, served nearly 25,000 customers and businesses overall, and helped 13 percent more jobseekers register through the Workforce1 system for the first time, according to the report.

It says 20 percent more New Yorkers without insurance enrolled to receive low-cost or no-cost health services through NYC Care, and 5 percent more New Yorkers enrolled in Medicaid through the New York City Human Resources Administration (HRA).

HRA increased enrollment in Fair Fares by 15 percent, helping New Yorkers with low incomes manage their transportation costs.

The New York City Department of Consumer and Workforce Protection provided financial counseling to 32 percent more New Yorkers, including 38 percent more first-time clients.

The report says financial counseling helped reduce clients’ debt by 15 percent more and helped clients save 14 percent more than the previous fiscal year.

The MMR report says total affordable housing starts increased by 4 percent to 25,266, while supportive unit starts increased 9 percent to a record high of 2,155.

A record 58 percent of housing units started by HPD were new construction, those 14,739 units represent the most new construction starts in the city’s history, and a 16 percent increase from the previous fiscal year, the report says.

It says HPD created and preserved 60 percent more affordable units for seniors; moved 70 percent more homeless households into a newly constructed unit and 17 percent more into a re-rental unit; and started 15 percent more units for homeless individuals and families.

There was a 6 percent increase in units of supportive housing available to people with mental health and substance abuse.

The MMR report also says HPD approved 5 percent more applicants for affordable housing through the lottery, while speeding up the approval process; increased contract awards to M/WBE affordable housing contractors through the Build Up program by 248 percent; and  produced 2,130 homeownership units, more than twice as many as the previous fiscal year.

The New York City Department of Social Services placed 13 percent more single adults and 42 percent more families with children from shelter into permanent housing overall, fueled by 22 and 25 percent increases in subsidized placements for singles and families, respectively, the report says.

The report says the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) diverted nearly 130,000 tons of organic waste from landfill, marking a 23 percent increase from last year and making it the nation’s largest organic waste program.

Utilization of DSNY Smart Composting bins increased by 300 percent, ahead of the city’s expansion of free, pain-free weekly curbside composting to every borough this fall, the report says.

It says 21 percent more New Yorkers were members of NYC Parks recreation centers, fueled by Adams administration investments in marquee projects like the Shirley Chisholm Recreation Center in East Flatbush and the Brownsville Recreation Center.

Additionally, the MMR report says the New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services increased its electric vehicle (EV) fleet by 12 percent and its EV charging ports by 21 percent – work which will likely accelerate further, as the administration recently won a $15 million federal grant to build the nation’s largest municipal curbside EV charging program.