NYC Dives Into Tough Neighborhoods, Emerges as Safest Big City
- Violent crime in public housing plummets 22 percent since 2013
- One key tactic: $13 million a year on youth jobs, counseling
This article is for subscribers only.
Just a few years ago, violence was so rampant at Tompkins Houses in Brooklyn, New York, that residents referred to the walkway that cuts through the public-housing complex as Death Valley.
“If you valued your life, you just didn’t go there,” said Leora Keith, 76, president of the residents’ association who has lived there for more than 40 years.