If you're wondering where all those murders happened that sent murder rates up in 2010, look no further than the housing projects of the Bronx. According to city statistics, public housing projects in the Bronx saw a murder rate change of 107.7% last year, jumping from 13 murders in 2009 to 27 in 2010. The number is even more jarring compared to the murder rates in other boroughs' projects; Queens and Staten Island saw 0% changes while the murders in Manhattan and Brooklyn declined. Unfortunately, Bronx residents don't seem surprised. Maria Rojas-Garcia told the Daily News, "You can't avoid it...There is no peace."
Shooting incidents rose in most of the boroughs, with the Bronx seeing a 68.2% increase to 74. However, Brooklyn housing developments had the most (111) shootings of any borough, though that's a decrease from 121 in 2009. NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said, "We address crime spikes experienced in public housing with housing impact deployments, sometimes coordinated with precinct and transit impact teams, among many other strategies." However, one Harlem mother said, "I don't even let my kids go to the window—and I live on the 12th floor."
