Mayor's Management Report Is Mixed; Crime, Murder Are Down

Drivers in New York may want to be more wary of blowing through red lights — and not just because it's dangerous. The number of drivers being fined for failing to stop for red lights is on the rise.

The figure is one of thousands of statistics released yesterday in the Mayor's Management Report, a trove of numbers showing how the city is performing on everything from rodent complaints to traffic fatalities.

The report, which covers fiscal year 2007, shows mixed results for the 12-month period that ended June 30. While crime and murder were down, emergencies were responded to more quickly on average, streets were cleaner, and fewer people were killed in traffic accidents, the news was not all positive.

Gang-motivated incidents shot up by 29%, a fact the police department attributes to its increase focus on gang activity.

In addition, the number of homeless families in city shelters increased by 10%, and reported cases of the sexually transmitted disease syphilis increased by 37%, almost all of them among homosexual men. That figure came even as the city drastically increased the number of condoms it distributed, to 17,770 from 3,855.

The city also saw fewer building inspections by the fire department and a jump in the amount the city paid out in claims, to about $535 million from $477 million. The law department attributed the increased payouts to five unusually large cases, including one $16 million payout for a 1996 case in which a pedestrian fell over a piece of an old parking sign and ended up with a brain injury.

The city was, however, able to reverse theft in schools. After February's report showed a 21% increase in school theft, mostly of laptops and pocketbooks, the report showed a 2% decrease.

The 45.2% increase in the number of red light violations was credited to the installation of more cameras and to technology that produces higher-quality photos. The city recently won permission from the state to increase the number of cameras, to 100 from 50. And, the city issued more tickets to drivers talking on their cell phones.

Mayor Bloomberg said the report generally shows "continued success" and is a crucial tool to make government more transparent.

He said it "encourages agencies to focus on the areas needing improvement and to build on ongoing success."

The city is required under the city charter to release the report twice a year.