Cheer NYCs major-crime drop but the city isnt out of the woods yet

Rejoice: The NYPD is scoring major success against violent crime.Yes, New Yorkers still have good reason to feel less safe than they did just a few years ago — but let’s consider the good news first.Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced Tuesday that the city saw modern-history record lows in murders and shootings in the first five months of this year.Above all, credit the work of New York’s Finest and Tisch’s simple but highly effective approach to public safety: Enforce the law.Every law, all of the time.The NYPD is back to quality-of-life policing, not letting “minor” infractions, like traffic violations and aggressive panhandling, slide — because major crime follows when cops stop sweating the small stuff.The department is also putting more cops in areas with high gun violence and nabbing more illegal firearms: Officers have yanked 2,200 guns off the streets so far this year.Lauding her officers’ good work, Tisch said: “Results like this never happen by accident, and certainly not at a time when the state’s criminal-justice laws have made a revolving door out of our criminal-justice system.”Amen: The historic dip in shootings and homicides is a hard-won accomplishment.

Full stop.But you’re not alone in not feeling safer.For example, polling last month for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s reelection campaign found that 56% of likely Democratic primary voters described crime as out-of-control or a major problem.It’s no small irony that Bragg is the messenger, but “why” is plenty obvious: We are still less safe in important ways that are largely beyond cops’ control.For one: Overall transit crime has slightly dipped, but the state’s no-bail law and New York’s failings on handling mentally illness are still wreaking havoc: Felony assaults on the subway are up 19%, with cops and MTA workers making up 36% of victims.And Tisch herself on Tuesday flagged another grim stat: Violent crime among kid...