The mayor flew – literally – from Queens to Staten Island to Brooklyn to the Bronx and back to Manhattan last night, to speak about crime prevention in honor of National Night Out Against Crime.

At each stop on the five-borough tour, which he has taken every year since he has been mayor, Mr. Bloomberg read a proclamation about National Night Out.

“The reason I think that crime has come down in this city is that there is a spirit of cooperation, everyone working together. The NYPD is the world’s finest police department, but they can’t do it on their own. They need the help of everybody, particularly the people in the streets, and this is a ways to engage the people, explain to them that the local police are doing a good job and here’s how you can help and support your local police department,” he said earlier in the day.

Mr. Bloomberg said his administration has made great strides in keeping New Yorkers safe, reducing crime at a time when most people said it would be impossible to reduce it further. But he said: “We always have more to do. Any crime rate greater than zero is something we shouldn’t be comfortable living with.”

Since 2001, major crimes in New York City are down by almost 20%. For example, murders have dropped 19.2% and rapes have dropped 14%, according to Police Department statistics.

Mr. Bloomberg wasn’t the only politician out and about talking about crime fighting last night.

The front-runner in the Democratic mayoral race, Fernando Ferrer, visited one precinct in Brooklyn and two in Queens in honor of the event. Rep. Anthony Weiner made five stops in Queens, the borough where he lives.

Nationally, more than 30 million people participated in anti-crime programs and activities yesterday. In New York City, there were celebrations in almost 90 locations in the five boroughs.