Although violence in Times Square increased right after the COVID-19 pandemic ended in 2021, efforts to combat crime have made the neighborhood significantly safer.
A busy morning at Times Square on July 19. Angela Zhang / The School of New York Times
By Angela Zhang
Reporting from New York City
July 19, 2023
Times Square is teeming with people. There are mascots in cartoon costumes swarming tourists, office workers in suits hurrying across the sidewalk, and security guards wearing bright yellow vests looking over the crowd.
This scene is a palpable shift from Times Square three years ago, during the height of the pandemic.
“There’s more people in New York City than before,” said Jada Prez, who has worked at the Forever 21 location in Times Square for two years.
Indeed, compared to the 43,630 average daily visitors to Times Square in May of 2020, the Times Square Alliance, a nonprofit organization working to “improve and promote Times Square,” recorded a 600 percent increase in May of 2023, when an average of 305,491 people visited every day.
As the city recovers from the pandemic and tourist numbers climb, public safety becomes a larger concern. Reports of violent crimes raise questions about the prevalence of lawlessness in one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world.
Police departments and public safety officers have worked together to fight the crime surge that came right after pandemic restrictions were lifted. Their efforts have ensured that Times Square is still a safe place for visitors to spend a scenic afternoon.
It’s certainly true that a spike in crime accompanied the increase in visitors that came immediately after the pandemic. A 2021 Daily News article reported rises in multiple categories of violent offenses.
But in response, different organizations have also implemented various forms of safety measures such as stationing more officers and establishing support programs.
Owode Alli, who has worked in New York as a security guard for more than 20 years, observed that there has been an increase in police officers stationed in the neighborhood since the pandemic.
“All the cops are around running everywhere, making sure everyone is safe,” he said.
Reynaldo James, a public safety officer working for Times Square Alliance, also saw “more police presence.”
“If we see any suspicious activity, we work on it,” he said, explaining the system of cooperation between the PSOs and NYPD officers.
The vice president of Communications at the TSA, T.J. Witham, confirmed that more PSOs have been stationed per shift since the end of the pandemic.
The Times Square Alliance has also implemented programs such as Community First, which targets the issue of homelessness by providing mental health and substance abuse support, to decrease unrest in the region.
As a result, Times Square has become significantly safer in recent times, two years after quarantine restrictions were lifted in 2021.
According to PIX11 News, shooting incidents have decreased by 71% in the precinct.
Alli said that Times Square is now “safer than it used to be.”
“The cops are doing a good job,” he said, praising the NYPD.
Prez also said that safety measures implemented during the Times Square revitalization have ensured that there wasn’t “a lot of crime around” now. She added that violence mostly occurred in New York city, not Times Square specifically.
Witham affirmed these accounts. “I will say that as of right now, the crime is very much down and it is very safe out there,” he said.
Despite the increased safety, news like last week’s shooting seem to perpetuate a notion of disorder in Times Square.
“The issue that we’re dealing with is that any crime in Times Square gets blown up in the media pretty intensely,” Witham said, addressing the incident.
“I think that is creating a perception or a feeling of a lack of safety, when in fact, that was an isolated incident.”
Times Square still has work to do to increase public perceptions of safety. But with the effort that has currently been expended, security guard James can assure visitors that “Times Square right now is one of the safest places for tourists.”
Note: This is an article I wrote as an assignment for the Fundamentals of Editing course at the School of the New York Times.
