City — one of the global fashion industry’s epicenters — has some workers and their employers reiterating the need for caution.City Police Department reported 8,967 incidents of crime — a nearly 43 percent increase compared to the same period last year. With the exception of the murder rate, which declined by 20.6 percent, all other crimes were significantly up compared to a year ago.
What would help to rectify the problem would be “physical action along the lines of the efforts that have recently been put in place by the state and city that are focusing on getting homeless and mentally ill people out of the subway trains and stations and legislative action along the lines of what Mayor Eric Adams [supports] that empowers the police and prosecutors to be more effective in getting dangerous people off the streets,” Wylde said.
While employees haven’t talked too much about the recent incidents, Urshel said: “I feel that it’s on everybody’s mind because it’s happened too often. I have been thinking that we have taken so many precautions for everyone’s health with sanitation, masks, disinfecting the rooms, installing Plexiglass and all of that.”
Despite that, Natori said she doesn’t feel very safe just walking around. “I’m very careful just watching. And I hate being like that because I love New York.” ”I just try to stay aware of what’s going on in the news, then take that information and be aware of where I’m going. We work near Times Square. It’s a really populated area. When I’m in the Times Square station, I make sure to stand in the middle of the platform and not get in a car when there is just one other person. As a young woman, you have to be especially cautious,” the 25-year-old said.
From his perspective, city officials have the power to change the situation with an ample police force and services to transport the disenfranchised to a stable living arrangement. “Put them in a home or the YMCA. The city has enough money to buy an apartment house for them. They put them in the hotels [temporarily on a monthlong basis during the pandemic]. Now they’re roaming the streets like the living dead.