The word on everyone's mind last week was "heat." We hit 103 degrees in the city. And I won't even mention a certain basketball team down in Miami where a certain player is going. But we also had some great news at York College in Queens, where we swore in more than 1,200 new police recruits.
It's always a special moment when a new class of recruits enters the police academy. They've yet to walk a beat, or catch a criminal, but by choosing a career of protecting others they've already made the most courageous decision of their lives.
That's especially true for two of our new hires: Conor McDonald, whose father, Steven, an NYPD detective, was shot and paralyzed while chasing a suspect in 1986, and Barry Driscoll, whose father, Sean, was an NYPD officer who gave his life during the 9/11 attacks. Conor's and Barry's decisions to follow in their fathers' footsteps speaks volumes about the kind of courage and commitment that makes up the entire department.
Last week's new class of recruits underscores another important point: Our administration will never walk away from city government's primary responsibility of public safety -- especially during these tough economic times. We understand that safe streets are the foundation of both our recovery and our future -- and that's why we are committed to putting our full resources behind the NYPD.
That begins with boots on the ground. Last year, for instance, we began building a new police academy in College Point, Queens, which will help us continue to produce and train the world's best police officers. We also successfully lobbied the Department of Homeland Security to provide stimulus funds that have allowed us to hire more than 100 new officers -- who graduated from the academy two weeks ago. And this year, in a budget that was full of tough choices, we made a decision to put scarce taxpayer dollars towards keeping our city safe by including funding for nearly 900 police officer positions.
The result of these and other tough decisions is that New York remains the safest big city in the nation. We've reduced crime every year during our administration -- a 37 percent decrease in total. And we're not about to stop there. Because every time the experts tell us that crime just can't go any lower, or that we'll never have fewer than 500 murders a year, or that the threat of terrorism will scare away businesses and visitors, New York City's Finest and our partners in law enforcement prove them wrong!
Yes, we've done it time and again -- and we're going to keep doing it, because we know that safe streets are an essential foundation of any great city.
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