What is life like in New York City with far fewer police arrests and tickets? The New York Times takes a close look. In a city of more than eight million people and 33 million subway rides a week, police officers arrested or ticketed just 22 people for jumping the turnstile last week. In the same period a year ago, nearly 1,400 fare-beaters were caught. Yesterday morning's alternate-side parking period found 25 cars on the wrong side of one block in Brooklyn, still occupying the spaces they were required to leave an hour earlier, without a single ticket in sight.
At New York City housing projects, residents said they had seen fewer officers patrolling their hallways and streets, leaving some people relieved and others frightened for their safety. Only 347 criminal summonses were written in the seven days through Sunday, down from 4,077 in the same period a year ago. The drop in enforcement began after two police officers were shot dead in Brooklyn on Dec. 20, murders that police union officials have laid at the feet of Mayor Bill de Blasio for statements and positions they view as critical of law enforcement. Patrick Lynch, president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, said “there is no union-initiated or -supported slowdown,” though he did not deny the existence of a slowdown.