New York murder mystery

by Andrew Karmen

"In 1990, New Yorkers were being murdered at a record clip of nearly 2,500 a year. By the end of the decade, the body count had dived to 70 percent. The number of robberies, car thefts, and other street crimes reported to New York Police Department also plummeted. This precipitous, unprecedented, and unexpected crime crash - the most dramatic example of a broader, nationwide trend in the 1990s - has been viewed by many as not less than a miracle. Andrew Karmen tracks a quarter century of murder in the city Americans have most commonly associated with rampant street crime. Providing both a local and a national context for New York's plunging crime rate, Karmen tests and debunks the many self-serving explanations for the decline. While crediting a more effective police force for its efforts, Karmen also emphasizes the decline of the crack epidemic, skyrocketing incarceration rates, favorable demographic trends, a healthy economy, an influx of hard working and law abiding immigrants, a ri