Giuliani says New York safer, fewer people on welfare
January 14, 2000
Web posted at: 1:42 a.m. EST (0642 GMT)
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Mayor Rudy Giuliani says New York is now "the safest large city in America."
In what could be his last state of the city address, if he defeats first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton to win the U.S. Senate race, Giuliani described improvements in crime, welfare and economic growth during his tenure, and admitted shortcomings in the city's school system.
"We used to be the crime capital and now we're the safest large city in America. We used to be the welfare capital of America and now we're seen as the city that has moved more people off welfare, has moved more people to work from welfare, of any city in America," Giuliani said on Thursday.
Giuliani, the city's 107th mayor, would vacate his office next January with a year left in his second term, if he wins the November election.
Since Giuliani took office in 1993, the city's crime rate has dropped by 50 percent, with murders decreasing from an average of 2000 a year to 700, the lowest homicide rate since 1964.
Catching 'the predatory criminal'
To further improve public safety, the mayor said he would build the NYPD a first-rate DNA laboratory which "more accurately catches the predatory criminal."
The city has dropped 460,000 people from welfare rolls, moving more than half into work programs, and converting 16 of its 32 welfare centers into job centers. "We're fighting to keep you in the workforce rather than assisting you dropping out, which is what we were doing in the past," Giuliani said.
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And a year after the city began seizing the cars of drunk drivers, Giuliani proposed to do the same to overly aggressive drivers.
"If you get arrested for reckless driving to the point we charge you with a misdemeanor, we're gonna take your automobile from you," he said.
Advocating charter schools
Giuliani conceded that the city's public school system, the nation's largest, was an "area we haven't made the change we should be making."
While the mayor's critics would suggest his ouster of three school chancellors hasn't helped the reform effort, Giuliani blamed the boards of education and teacher's unions, saying, "Our system protects jobs more than kids."
Giuliani advocated developing more charter schools and privatizing others, calling the competition "good for our kids."
Aligning himself with the national Republican Party, and in sharp contrast to Mrs. Clinton, the mayor also called for the city to experiment with vouchers. "We should allow the parents to choose the school they want to send their child to," he said.
Shifting focus with homeless
Giuliani defended his treatment of the homeless, saying only three percent of those contacted by police had been arrested, even after a much-publicized street sweep late last year. He said the 103 city shelters had a bad reputation and he would rename them "New Start Centers," which would focus more on treatment for the homeless.
The mayor also said he would take steps to deliver health insurance to the 1.4 million working New Yorkers who don't have any.
On the economic front, Giuliani proposed another $2 billion in tax cuts over the next four years. More than $2 billion in city tax cuts have occurred since 1994.
"We're gaining jobs ahead of America," Giuliani said, comparing the city's job growth rate of 5 percent to the nation's 3 percent job growth rate.
If Giuliani is looking beyond his mayoralty, he didn't show it on Thursday. "I love this job of being mayor of New York City. I'm never going to have a better job," he said.
Correspondents Phil Hirschkorn and Gary Tuchman contributed to this report.
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