How did the morbid and crime ridden new york of the 80s become what it is today ?

Question

How did the morbid and crime ridden new york of the 80s become what it is today ?

Answer 1

Two words: Rudy Guiliani.

He really cleaned up the city by enforcing laws that had previously been ignored. For instance, subway fare jumpers (those who jump the turnstiles to get on the subway without paying) were arrested. Ditto for the 'squeegie men' who'd force themselves on cars at red lights and start cleaning the windshields and demand payment.

What happened is that the crime rate went down dramatically because the fare jumpers and squeegie men were also wanted for other crimes.