Crime, Class Size Down
Management Report Good One for City

By HOWARD MEGDAL

Mayor Bloomberg's Fiscal Year 2006 Management Report shows improved response times for police and a continuing reduction in violent crime, though the murder rate and fire response times are both up. Notably, complaints of alleged Police Officer misconduct rose 16 percent, while class size continued to shrink in most of the city's classrooms.

MAYOR BLOOMBERG: Gives himself high marks.

'Strong Record' for City

"The overview of service delivery performance contained in this report shows that city government is capable of continuing the strong record of achievement seen over the past four years, and of achieving new milestones in providing quality education, ensuring our citizens' safety, enhancing the quality of life, and helping to improve the health and prosperity of New Yorkers," the Mayor said in a Sept. 14 statement.

The report described New York as "the safest large city in America," with felony crimes dropping five percent compared to FY 2005. Homicides rose to 564 from 537, but they remained below 600 for the fourth consecutive fiscal year.

Response times to critical incidents decreased six seconds, 4:30, and for serious incidents fell 18 seconds, to six minutes. Major felony crime fell 20 percent in the transit system.

Meanwhile, while fire response times overall rose by one second citywide, that difference was largely due to a 14-second increase in response from FY 2005 through the first half of FY 2006. Response times actually fell by nine seconds over the second half of FY 2006, which the report credited to a "utilization of comprehensive performance data."

EMS Improved

Emergency Medical Service response times improved: by 18 seconds among firefighter units, and by four seconds among ambulance units.

The report touted a number of positive trends in education. Class sizes fell in grades 1-9, with just 1.4 percent of first- through third- grade students in classes of more than 29 students, down from 1.8 percent. The city also has a full complement of certified Teachers for the first time, compared with 98.8 percent last year.

The report also cited a 10-percent reduction in felony crime for city schools, and 24 percent in the Impact Schools. The United Federation of Teachers has claimed, however, that those statistics are skewed by underreporting. The city also acknowledged that response within 24 hours to child abuse and neglect reports by the Administration for Children's Services fell from 96.4 to 94.2 percent. The report noted, however, that overall calls were up 22 percent in FY 2006.

Public health saw a number of improvements, with the AIDS, syphilis, tuberculosis and infant mortality rates all declining. But despite the Mayor's vocal anti-smoking initiative, 18.9 percent of New Yorkers still smoke, up slightly from FY 2005.

Economically, unemployment fell from 6.1 to 5.5 percent, and the commercial occupancy rate rose from 89.9 to 91.7 percent. Public assistance rolls declined by five percent, to the lowest level since 1964, but food stamp enrollment was up slightly.