NEW YORK — Of all the statistics from the recent New Year’s Eve in Times Square — 1 million revelers, 2,000 pounds of confetti, thousands of police officers, dozens of surveillance cameras — there is one number that stands out: zero tickets for low-level crimes.
No tickets for having an open container of alcohol, public urination, double parking, or for furry, costumed characters hassling tourists to take their picture. Add in low-level arrests, and there was just one, for a subway-related offense.
This number reflected the entire week containing the holiday. During the Christmas week, when the neon-lit streets were every bit as jammed, the total for such infractions was 23 — compared with more than 650 summonses per week the previous year, according to police statistics.
Times Square is perhaps the most jarring example of a slowdown in low-level enforcement across New York City amid tension between rank-and-file police and Mayor Bill de Blasio, whom they accuse of encouraging violence against cops by siding with protesters after the death of Eric Garner.
In the two weeks after two NYPD officers were shot to death in their patrol car Dec. 20 by a fugitive who had ranted online about avenging citizen killings, low-level arrests citywide dropped 61 percent. Summonses were down more than 90 percent.
“They haven’t been on top of us like they used to,” Luis Martinez said on a recent night in Times Square, where he roams the streets in a Cookie Monster costume posing for photos in hopes of tips. “They’re minding their own business now.”
