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Mayor Bill de Blasio is insisting that New York City is better off now after his eight years at the helm — even though murder rates are up, street homelessness has surged and the Big Apple’s economic recovery lags amid the pandemic.
“I’m convinced this place is better than eight years ago,” de Blasio told NBC’s “Today” on Thursday as his mayoral tenure nears an end.
“New York is better because of New Yorkers.”
De Blasio, who will be replaced by Mayor-elect Eric Adams at midnight Friday, claimed the Big Apple is now “the safest big city in America” — and that he had successfully fought “inequality” during his time in the top job.
“Independent studies have shown we were able to put a lot more money back in the pockets of working people. Wages have gone up. We’ve been able to give things like pre-K and 3-K to all families for free, universally,” Hizzoner said.
“We have, after a really tough two years, we’re once again turning the corner – this is the safest big city in America. That is a fact.”
His cheery outlook comes despite crimes rates across the Big Apple surging over the past year.
There have been 1,546 shootings in 2021 amid a spike in Big Apple gun crime, a staggering 102 percent increase from pre-pandemic levels in 2019, the latest NYPD data shows.
Murders, which as of Sunday stood at 479, have doubled compared to two years ago prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Homicides are on track to reach nearly 500 — levels that have not been seen in a decade.
Though Department of Homeless Services data shows the homeless shelter population is down from its 2019 peak and when de Blasio took office, the number of people using eight of the busiest subway stations as living spaces spiked nearly 45 percent over the summer, according to the MTA.
Eight years into de Blasio’s tenure, about 30,000 New York City students spend time living in homeless shelters each year, according to Advocates for Children of New York.
Poverty has recently risen, as well.
The Center for New York City Affairs at The New School released a report in September finding a 14 percent increase in city residents seeking temporary government aid between February 2020 and June 2021, including larger jumps in New Yorkers applying for Medicaid and food stamp programs.
Additionally, the city has regained fewer than six out of every 10 jobs it lost since early 2020, according to Center for New York City Affairs economist James Parrott, and unemployment rate in the five boroughs is 9.4 percent — more than double the national average of 4.2 percent, state and federal data shows.
In February, about a year after the pandemic began in New York City, more than 47 percent of Big Apple small businesses remain shuttered, according to TrackTheRecovery.org.
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