http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/267400p-229046c.html
Everything from murders to auto-fatalities falls sharply
By JOSE MARTINEZ
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
New York city is a safer city and the startling proof is in the numbers:
# Not a single livery cabbie was killed in 2004. In fact, it has been nearly two years since anyone behind the wheel has been killed while on duty.
# Just one pedestrian was killed last year on Queens Blvd., the deadly roadway that claimed 72 pedestrian lives from 1993 to 2000. Now the notorious Boulevard of Death could use a name change.
# The murder rate continued to fall, keeping the number of slayings there were 570 murders in 2004 at its lowest level since the mid-1960s.
# Fewer New Yorkers perished in fires in 2004 than in any year since 1919.
In ways big and small, New Yorkers are feeling as safe as they have in the past 30 years.
Here are some of their stories.
Far Rockaway once ranked among the city's crime capitals, a remote beachfront stretch of Queens where fear and violence ruled. No more.
"Now when you see people walking, they're not cowering or running to their next destination," said Curtis Archer, executive director of the Rockaway Development & Revitalization Corp. "They're pretty relaxed."
And with good reason the 101st Precinct last year reported one of the largest crime drops in the city, with double-digit percentage decreases in all but one of seven major crime categories.
"We still have our moments down here," said Capt. Walter Salowski, commanding officer of the 101st Precinct. "But now they're few and far between."
Only grand larceny increased in 2004. More notably, according to the latest Police Department numbers, robberies fell more than 35%, from 209 to 135. In 1993, there were a staggering 710 robberies in the 2.5-square-mile precinct.
One of the reasons behind the drop in robberies, according to Salowski, is that takeout restaurant employees have been drilled by cops to deliver orders outdoors, where they're less likely to be pegged as marks.
"It used to be a ruckus out here," said Leshon Rhem, 29, who has lived in Far Rockaway since 1990. "The projects were crazy, and on Halloween, it wasn't even safe to step outside."
The 15% overall drop in crime in Far Rockaway has created a newfound sense of safety on the peninsula, where crime has plummeted by nearly 80% since 1993.
Salowski credits a community eager to shed its bad reputation and police officers who have earned the trust of the people they protect.
"The cops know who the bad guys are and where they are," he said. "They got people whispering in their ears."
As crime keeps dropping, the results are hard to miss.
New homes and commercial developments are going up where cars once were stripped. Stores are staying open later on Mott Ave., Far Rockaway's main shopping strip.
"I used to come in late and leave early," said Mamadu Barrie, 24, who runs Rockaway Unlimited Fashion on Beach 20th St. "Now I just don't see so much the guys who would come around and bother me."
The optimism is tempered by the understanding that things could easily swing the other way. Residents worry, too, that isolated Far Rockaway youngsters don't have enough to do.
"Idle hands get into trouble," said Naiyma Moore, 21, who works at the Madison Square Boys & Girls Club on Beach 40th St. "You have one train, and if you're not open to riding that A train out and exploring, then you will definitely get caught up." But community leaders are hopeful that Far Rockaway's resurgence is just starting.
"Trust me, the bad stuff hasn't gone away completely," Archer said. "But this is definitely a different place now, and it's going to continue to be that different place."
The long, somber processions of Lincoln Town Cars en route to a livery driver's funeral have become a thing of the past.
At one time, getting behind the wheel of a livery cab meant putting your life on the line. But since late January 2003, when two drivers were killed while on duty, not one livery cabbie has been killed on the job.
"It's unheard of not to see any drivers killed in two years," said Fernando Mateo, head of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers. "If you go back through the history of this industry, there's always been 10, 20, 30 drivers killed every year."
More than 30 drivers were murdered in 1990; two years later, the number soared to nearly 40. The numbers fell until a rash of on-the-job killings returned in 2000.
Thugs killed four drivers in that year's first two months. Before the summer, nine Taxi and Limousine Commision-sanctioned drivers were killed in robberies or attempted robberies. Another died before year's end.
Demanding action, drivers helped make their jobs safer.
The TLC ordered that all drivers install protective partitions or digital surveillance cameras in their cars. The city put up millions of dollars to defray the equipment costs.
The state stiffened penalties for driver assaults. Police initiatives included stopping drivers to check on their safety and having more cops drive livery cars as decoys.
The result: a greater chance of driving home safe from some of the city's toughest neighborhoods.
"We are in awe," Mateo said. "It's much safer than it was before."
The nickname seems a bit outdated by now.
Only one pedestrian was killed on the Boulevard of Death in 2004, as Queens Blvd. continued to escape its ugly past, thanks to vast safety improvements by the city.
After 72 pedestrians were killed from 1993 to 2000, the Department of Transportation began a series of measures aimed at cutting down on the carnage.
"There are a lot of people who said, 'Bully!' and they just went out and got squashed," said senior citizen Marie Sichrovsky, who lives on Queens Blvd.
Pedestrians were given more time to cross the 10-lane roadway; fencing was installed along Queens Blvd median, and traffic rule changes were made. Large signs went up at certain intersections, ominously warning, "A pedestrian was killed crossing here." As a result, pedestrian deaths have decreased from six in 2003 to last year's single fatality.
"The lights are much longer and you feel more confident to cross the street," said Miriam Safier, a senior citizen crossing the street last week. "Before you had to run."
Still, pedestrians including elderly people leaning on walkers or pushing carts continue to test fate by jaywalking.
"Everybody talks about this Boulevard of Death, but it's the pedestrians who are to blame," said Anna Rempel, a woman in her 80s. "Sometimes I say to them, 'Are you color-blind?'"
But many pedestrians and drivers seem to have learned their lesson from the dozens of horror stories played out on the 7.1-mile Queens Blvd., if not from all the signs put in place by the city.
"So much attention has been drawn to Queens Blvd. safety that people are a little bit more cautious," said Dolores Rizzoto, district manager for Community Board 2 in Woodside. "It's not what it was a few years ago."
With Pete Donohue
Originally published on January 2, 2005
[Runs away]