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Members of the National Guard and an officer from the Washington Metropolitan Police Department on foot patrols in the U Street neighborhood of Washington, Sunday, Nov., 30, 2025. AP<\/p>\nI never fail to be amazed at what we get used to. <\/p>\n
Trundling along in the New York subway the other day, I saw all the usual sights. <\/p>\n
Turnstile hoppers, of course, who never fail to aggravate me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy am I the only mug who\u2019s paying?\u201d is my general feeling. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did I just effectively pay for that guy\u2019s journey as well?,\u201d I think.<\/p>\n
Members of the National Guard and an officer from the Washington Metropolitan Police Department on foot patrols in the U Street neighborhood of Washington, Sunday, Nov., 30, 2025. AP<\/p>\n
But perhaps these folks just misread New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani\u2019s manifesto promises and think the subway, as well as the buses, are already free.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then there were the homeless people everywhere, of course. <\/p>\n
And unlike the turnstile hoppers, I feel nothing but profound sadness for these people. <\/p>\n
It is such an indictment of a society that in one of the richest cities on Earth, we have so many people trying to find a patch of dry ground to make their own in this freezing weather.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And of course there are the crazy people, the unwell people and the people whom every passenger seems to be keeping a careful eye on as they holler at the subway car and shake their fists at the moon.<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t normal. <\/p>\n
It isn\u2019t normal that a daily commute should also be a daily lesson in situational awareness.<\/p>\n
But the lurking possibility of violence is something we New Yorkers are all used to. <\/p>\n
And we don\u2019t have to be.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Capital improvement\u00a0<\/p>\n
I went down to DC this week and got a reminder of this. <\/p>\n
I remember that arriving at Union Station in the nation\u2019s capital was an alarming experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n
During COVID, the whole DC park opposite the station, as well as the station itself, was transformed into one huge homeless encampment with protests for the myriad causes of that period flagged everywhere.<\/p>\n
It used to be embarrassing arriving in the capital. <\/p>\n
And at night, it could be scary.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But how changed everything is now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ever since President Trump decided to clean up Washington, DC, you can see the results for yourself.<\/p>\n
The Trump haters had a field day, of course. <\/p>\n
\u201cTroops on the streets are a sign of fascism\u201d was the gist of their argument. <\/p>\n
As everything always is with them. <\/p>\n
As though a city as important as the nation\u2019s capital shouldn\u2019t be guarded by people in uniform.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yet from the moment of arrival now, you can see the effects of the crime crackdown in DC.<\/p>\n
In the hall of Union Station, a string trio was playing Christmas music.<\/p>\n
No crazed maniacs were screaming at them and trying to steal their bows. <\/p>\n
It was just appreciative families getting a warm experience entering or leaving the capital.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The streets feel cleaner and the whole place feels safer. <\/p>\n
In fact, it felt strange, as a New Yorker, to walk down streets that seemed so pleasant and secure.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s not a mirage. <\/p>\n
The figures speak for themselves. <\/p>\n
Violent crime in the capital has fallen by 50% compared with the same months last year. <\/p>\n
Robberies are down nearly as much and the homicide rate has gone from a wave to a trickle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Grudging admission\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even Trump haters are having to admit that it\u2019s working.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Longtime DC resident Andrew Sullivan this week wrote a mea-culpa column<\/a> in which he had to \u2018fess up.<\/p>\n Having originally been one of the people who had \u201charrumphed\u201d at Trump\u2019s cleanup, Sullivan admitted that when he returned to the city recently, \u201cI had to eat my harrumphs. The city felt instantly different: calmer, quieter, saner.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The park opposite where he lived was, he said, once a pile of drug needles and crime; now there was quiet. <\/p>\n \u201cIt was 10 days before I was accosted by a mentally ill homeless person on the street,\u201d he went on, \u201csomething that was a daily occurrence before.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tGet opinions and commentary from our columnists\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to our daily Post Opinion newsletter!\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n And that\u2019s the thing with the crime crackdown. <\/p>\n It works. <\/p>\n As of course it would.\u00a0<\/p>\n If you put hundreds of troops and other law enforcement on the streets \u2014 and make them highly visible \u2014 then of course crime will fall. <\/p>\n A criminal has to be severely deranged \u2014 and there are some \u2014 to commit a crime right in front of a law enforcement officer.<\/p>\n The people who like to pretend that this is some prelude to fascism should consider for a moment that perhaps it is something else: a completely necessary response to cities that were spinning out of control.\u00a0<\/p>\n Which brings me back to New York. <\/p>\n Because as I wrote last week, it looks like we\u2019re going to be in for one hell of a ride in this city for the next few years.\u00a0<\/p>\n Our incoming mayor has appointed person after person to his transition team who thinks crime is relative and prisons are the problem. <\/p>\n He has put forward people \u2014 and has decided to listen to, and be advised by people \u2014 who are from exactly the school of thought that has caused cities like this one to fall apart.\u00a0<\/p>\n Like a lot of New Yorkers, I remember when things were different in this city.<\/p>\n