Pushing back at critics who said his policies would be a boon to criminals, Mayor de Blasio said crime has fallen during the first weeks of his watch — with homicides dropping 21%.
“Some naysayers suggested you couldn’t bring down crime while bringing police and community back together,” de Blasio said “I think these last 10 weeks show, yes you can. “
Speaking at a press conference with NYPD Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, the mayor said crime overall is down 2% since he took office on Jan. 1 through March 9, with a 14% drop in shootings compared to the same period last year.
During an impressive 10-day stretch — from Feb. 13 to 22 — there were no murders, he said.
That’s the longest murder-free period since the NYPD started keeping records, officials said.
“Ten days straight in New York City in which there was not a single murder is just an extraordinary achievement for the NYPD,” said de Blasio.
Although De Blasio credited the “spirit of collaboration” that Bratton brought to the department, the top cop said the frigid weather might have kept crooks at home.
“Jack Frost is the best friend of a police officer,” he said.
De Blasio touted the stats right before announcing four new appointees to his criminal justice team.
He named Joseph Ponte — the head of Maine’s Department of Corrections — as correction commissioner.
De Blasio also appointed two Bloomberg veterans: Vincent Schiraldi, who led the city’s Probation Department under the former mayor, will be a senior advisor in the Office of Criminal Justice; and Ana Bermudez, named to head the Probation Department, was a deputy commissioner there for Bloomberg.
Elizabeth Glazer, who most recently was Gov. Cuomo’s public safety advisor, was named director of the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice.
De Blasio called the four a “dream team” of crimefighters.
