On Thursday, the Rent Guidelines Board voted 7-to-1 to freeze rents on nearly one million stabilized apartments, fulfilling a key campaign promise by Mayor Zohran Mamdani. @arpitrage.bsky.social, an NYU Stern professor and member of the Rent Guidelines Board, cast the lone dissenting vote.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani promised a rent freeze. On Thursday, the Rent Guidelines Board will vote on whether to approve one. What would that mean for New York City’s housing stock? Join Vital City’s conversation on June 26 at 10 a.m. ET via Zoom Register: zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Mayor Zohran Mamdani says crime is down in New York City. The data says yes — but the full picture is more complicated. Paul Reeping, director of research at Vital City, breaks down what the numbers show. #NYC #NewYorkCity #CrimeData #PublicSafety #ZohranMamdani #VitalCity

NEW ISSUE: New York has a $2 trillion economy, a staggering wealth gap and a new mayor with big plans. 20+ economists and experts on what can @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social actually change — and what will stop him? 🧵 Read the issue: vitalcitynyc.org/issue-16/

Don’t miss this terrific conversation! New Yorker’s @adamgopnik.bsky.social interviews Harvard sociologist Robert J. Sampson. RSVP: eventbrite.com/e/vital-city... Presented by Vital City, NYU Wagner, @russellsagefdn.bsky.social | @harvardpress.bsky.social

Join Vital City, @nyuwagner.bsky.social and the @russellsagefdn.bsky.social for a conversation between New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik and Robert Sampson about his new book, “Marked by Time." RSVP: www.eventbrite.com/e/vital-city...

Vital City just launched Data Explorer — 30 years of New York City crime data in one place. Compare neighborhoods. Track trends. See what's actually happening where you live. www.vitalcitynyc.org/explorer/

And don't miss out on our new crime data explorer, where you can waste hours parsing New York City public safety trends every which way. www.vitalcitynyc.org/explorer/

Watch this horserace-style animation tracking more than 30 years of New York City crime data. See the blue bar for auto thefts shrink and shrink over time, and follow the yellow bar for felony assaults as it grows in recent years.

Vital City is essential reading, and we don't just say so ourselves. Here's the opinion of Obama-de Blasio-Mamdani advisor Patrick Gaspard. To help us do more of what we do, support our work here! donorbox.org/support-vita...

This is the first in what we hope will be a series. The other candidates for mayor have been invited to participate in similar conversations.

Response times have also been going up, and it's possible that hiring more cops would have a salutary effect here.

Part of the rationale put forward by those who want to hire more cops is that overtime is unsustainably high, and that's harming morale and retention. The numbers do show a real growth in OT.

Today, Vital City launches a monthly series called Reality Check. This debut installment by John Hall looks at police staffing levels and how they actually relate to crime (or don't). Point one: The experience in NYC the last 30 years shows no real correlation.

On the subject of a rent freeze: Earlier this year, Zohran Mamdani was asked whether he personally needs one. Here's his reply. nyeditorialboard.substack.com/p/zohran-mam...

This morning in Vital City's exclusive weekly mayoral-election-season newsletter, John Hall lays out the evidence on what hiring more cops does (and doesn't do) for crime reduction.

But another justice system problem is real: Only 27% of New York City arrests now lead to conviction — compared to 73% in the rest of New York State. That includes just 21% of misdemeanors and 36% of felonies. This gap is widening.

What about youth crime? One common talking point — that the Raise the Age law has driven up crime by young people — isn’t supported by the data. The share of crimes with known suspects under 18 is lower than before the law passed. So is the share of crimes with known suspects 18-24.

Major felonies underground are down from last year — and lower than they were in 2019. But felony assaults in the subway are up 65% from 2019.

How about the subway, that absolutely central space to so many New Yorkers? Contrary to national rhetoric, New York City’s system is safer than peer cities.

Apparent increases in lower-level crimes can be shaped by how active the police department is. Enforcement surges can look like crime surges. But that doesn’t explain what’s happening here. We drilled down to find that victim- and witness-reported crimes are up too.

What’s going on? Domestic violence, attacks on elderly people, and assaults on public workers are all rising. Stranger assaults may be playing a role too. We need better data to draw firm conclusions.

Felony assault isn’t just a very serious crime; it’s a common one compared to most other major offenses. It happens 98x more often than murders, 43x more than shootings. For misdemeanor assault, you can basically double those numbers.

And felony assault — a horrible offense — has been rising and rising since 2020.

In fact, total major crimes in the city remain 30% above where they were in 2019.

Bad news: New York City hasn’t returned to prepandemic levels — and lags behind other big cities in its postpandemic recovery.

And on a year-over-year basis compared to 2024, most major violent crimes are on the decline. Combined, major felonies are down 5.7% from last year.

Good news first: Shootings and homicides are at or near historic lows.

Moreover, major subway crime is going down so far this year compared to last.