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I've been in NYC since 1983 and grew up just on the other side of the river. Murders were out of control in the late 80s/early 90s. Hit a high of 2,200 in 1992 during the Dinkins Administration. Giuliani was elected later that year and he started the fix to the problem. How?
1. Doubled the police force from 25,000 to 50,000
2. Established zero tolerance for quality of life crimes (drinking in public, trespassing, smoking pot, etc)
3. Had a task for that got guns off the street.
Giuliani's tactics would not work today. The task force that got guns off the street did so with mostly illegal searches and seizures. They were just concerned with results, not legalities. I myself was thrown up against a wall twice and illegally searched. Back then if you questioned the tactics you got arrested and processed and caught a beating in the station house.
Bottom line, Giuliani did what needed to be done for 2 terms and Mike Bloomberg continued the trend for 3 terms. So that's 25 years of law and order.
That wouldn't work today and frankly that's why Bill Deblasio is mayor and was re-elected last year. He's very anti-police and has reversed the quality of life prosecutions but so far the police force - especially undercover who you can't tell apart from the homeless - are keeping things in check.
Bottom line - Rudy Giuliani and Mike Bloomberg didn't care if they were liked or not. They just wanted to get done what needed to get done.
When mayors worry more about opinión polls then results, everyone suffers...
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