New York City in the 1980s was a rough place. The Big Apple faced numerous societal issues and was teetering on the brink of collapse. The city was bankrupt, with violence and poverty at historic highs. Images of graffiti-covered subway cars, abandoned buildings on fire and garbage-filled streets serve as stark reminders of a dark period in the history of this city.

Today, it’s a popular talking point in the media that New York City is once again on the decline. Many claim that crime is soaring, and the city is no longer safe. Yet, as we compare the New York City of today to that of the not-so-distant past, it becomes clear that the prevailing narrative of New York City’s urban decline couldn’t be farther from the truth.

As a lifelong New Yorker, I have only been around for a 20-year snapshot of the city’s long history. However, my father, a child of the 1950s who grew up in the Bronx, has seen it all. He has witnessed a complete transformation of New York City, living through its highs and lows over seven decades. For New Yorkers like my father, these alarmist claims of urban decay and disaster fall flat on their head. Having survived New York City at its worst, he says the city today has improved tremendously and does not even come close to how it was in those days.

Primarily, the people who fall for these claims are those looking at the city from the outside in. Without being on the ground, commuting to work each day, and living in the city, it’s easy to get caught up in the sensational headlines spun by publications such as The New York Post, and New York Daily News. These right-leaning tabloids fill their front pages with shocking headlines, amplifying isolated incidents across the city and making crime seem much more prevalent than it is in reality.

One such headline in The New York Post reads, “NYC serious crimes hit levels unseen in two decades last year even as Mayor Adams claims ‘crime is down.’” Headlines like this certainly get clicks, but their arguments often crumble under the smallest scrutiny. In this particular article, The New York Post claims that assaults in NYC reached historic levels in 2023. The article reads, “For the second year in a row under Adams, overall crime was on the rise — driven by a historic surge in assaults, which neared 28,000 for the first time in the city’s publicly recorded history.” This claim certainly appears alarming, however, it only takes one Google search of past NYC crime statistics to demonstrate how misleading it is.

According to historic NYPD crime data, NYC assaults peaked at a height of 92,105 in 1990. Therefore, claiming that New York City reached 28,000 assaults “for the first time in the city’s publicly recorded history” is laughably misinformed and an alarming example of journalistic deceit. As a journalist, it angers me to see a professional news organization blatantly promoting a narrative of fear with misused data.

Would you believe me if I told you that New York City is one of the safest big cities in the United States? Despite all of the shocking headlines that you’ve heard recently in the news, this is indeed true. According to research by the New York University Tandon School of Engineering, New York City is among the top 15 percent of cities across the United States in safety. This ranking is extraordinary for such a large city and starkly contrasts the prevailing narrative of crime and decline. Unfortunately, favorable statistics like these are ignored by the news media in favor of sensationalism.

The South Bronx, by far ground zero for the crime and urban decay of the 1980s, is today a vibrant, up-and-coming community, thanks to increased investment and revitalization efforts. The borough of the Bronx as a whole has seen unprecedented development and investment over the past decade, sporting the most building applications of any borough. New luxury condos are emerging on the Bronx side of the East River and tenants face rents as high as $5,345 for a two-bedroom apartment. With all of this investment and wealth concentrated within New York City, urban decline on the scale of the 1980s is highly unlikely to occur ever again.

I am not claiming that New York City is free of problems. From the homelessness crisis and migrant crisis to issues of education and wealth inequality, the city faces several complex challenges with no easy solution. However, acknowledging these challenges does not undermine the city’s decades-long progress.

In addition, NYC crime has risen slightly in the years since COVID-19, but it is still a drop in the bucket when compared to the crime rates of the 80s and 90s. In 1990, during the peak of the New York City crime wave, murders hit an all-time high of 2,605. In the three decades since, the murder rate has dropped significantly from this all-time high, with only 386 cases in 2023. When you look at the numbers, this trend remains true for all types of crime. The fact is, New York City is safe, no matter how many headlines say otherwise.

The New York City of today may not be perfect, but it stands as a testament to the indomitable spirit of its residents, who refuse to let their city be defined by its past, and instead continue to shape its future with passion, resilience and a relentless commitment to progress.

Michael Toscano is a junior majoring in business administration.

Views expressed in the opinions pages represent the opinions of the columnists. The only piece which represents the views of the Pipe Dream Editorial Board is the Staff Editorial.