Contact: Colleen Roche (212) 788-2958 or Jack Deacy (212) 788-2969
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani today released the Preliminary Fiscal 1997 Mayor's Management Report (MMR), which covers the period July 1,1996 through October 31, 1996 and, for selected programs, through December 31, 1996.
The Report, which is published twice a year, measures the managerial performance and delivery of services by City agencies in the areas of public safety, infrastructure, health and social services, transportation, economic development, quality of life, technology, and customer service.
"The Mayor's Management Report provides New Yorkers with an objective measurement of how we are managing the City and delivering vital services," Mayor Giuliani said. "The overall picture is of a City that is safer, cleaner and stronger economically than it has been in decades. But there is important work yet to be done. In the coming months we must continue our efforts to enhance our educational system by improving student reading scores, expanding and monitoring the school construction program and integrating computer technology into our classrooms."
The MMR outlines several significant accomplishments, including continued record reductions in crime, private sector job growth, improvements in the cleanliness of our streets and parks and welfare reform initiatives.
Among the Report's highlights:
The MMR also spotlighted the Mayor's priorities for Fiscal Year (FY)1997, which include: provide for the safety, well-being and future of our children;
The Mayor's Management Report also includes more than 230 new performance-based measures, many developed in concert with the City Council, including new indicators to measure City procurement activities.
New York City has achieved dramatic reductions in crime, including a 38.8 percent reduction in overall crime in Calendar Year (CY) 1996 as compared to Calendar Year (CY) 1993. FBI crime data, available through June 1996, indicate that for the first six months of CY 1996 as compared to the first six months of CY 1995, New York's reduction in index crimes is 3.5 times the national rate and 2.4 times the rate experienced in other cities. According to the FBI report on per capita crime nationwide, New York City ranked 144th out of 189 cities with populations of 100,000 or more, compared with the City's 1993 rank of 87th out of 181 cities.
The number of shooting incidents was down 51.5 percent in CY 1996 compared to CY 1993. The City's domestic violence strategy has also produced significant results. Domestic violence-related arrests have increased by nearly 60 percent in CY 1996 as compared to CY 1993.
The City has expanded the capacity of the Fire Department to ensure the safety and health of New Yorkers by expanding the number of certified first responder companies. The merger of the Emergency Medical Service into the Fire Department in Spring 1996 has resulted in additional lives being saved, and improved response time to medical emergencies.
EMS response time, which during the period July through October 1995 averaged eight minutes and 45 seconds, dropped nearly a full minute to seven minutes and 57 seconds during the same period in 1996. The merger of EMS and FDNY first responder units has resulted in a combined response time of six minutes and 55 seconds for the most critical medical emergencies. In 1996, civilian fire fatalities were half what they were in 1991, and serious burns to firefighters have been reduced 52 percent since FY 1993.
During the first four months of FY 1996, 84 percent of the City's parks achieved an acceptable cleanliness rating. This rating improved to 91 percent during the same period in FY 1997. Overall condition ratings, which include the capital conditions of the parks, showed an increase from 47 percent acceptable in the first four months of FY 1996 to 56 percent acceptable in the same period in FY 1997.
The percentage of streets rated acceptably clean in the first six months of FY 1997 has reached unprecedented levels -- 82.7 percent_the highest in the history of street cleanliness ratings, which began in 1974. Targeted cleaning efforts have also resulted in all of the City's 59 community districts being rated at least "acceptable" in cleanliness ratings during the last three quarters of CY 1996.
Improvements in the area of transportation include the reduction of a large backlog of the engineering studies conducted by the Department of Transportation to approve traffic signals in neighborhoods, an expansion of the Adopt-a-Highway program which now includes 56 percent of the City's highway system and new targets for the repair and maintenance of many street and traffic signs. These improvements signal a new spirit in the Department of Transportation and a commitment to improving the conditions of our streets and highways.
Improvements in several areas that affect New York City residents include a sharp drop in deaths due to AIDS. Deaths due to AIDS dropped below 5,000 in CY 1996 as compared to over 7,000 deaths in CY 1995. The City also experienced a reduction in cases of tuberculosis_just over 2,000 cases were reported in CY 1996 compared to 2,445 in CY 1995. There has been a six percent reduction in the cases of sexually transmitted diseases reported in CY 1996 compared to CY 1995.
The Health and Hospitals Corporation had continued success in women's health initiatives. Waiting time for initial gynecological appointments has been reduced from 15 days during the first three months of FY 1996 to nine days in the first three months of FY 1997, from 15 days to 11 days for mammography appointments and from seven days to four days for prenatal care appointments.
When the City's Work Experience Program was fully implemented in March 1995, public assistance recipients numbered 1,161,000. As of January 31, 1997 there were 925,200 welfare recipients, with the reduction resulting from efforts to find jobs for these individuals and better screening which ensures that only those who are truly eligible receive benefits.
There have been many efforts to revitalize the City's economy_by reducing the size of government by nearly 21,000 jobs since the beginning of 1994; reducing City expenditures by $8.9 billion; having three years of balanced budgets with no increases or only modest increases in spending; and by introducing tax reductions totaling $1.4 billion though Fiscal 1998. Private sector job growth through the end of CY 1996 totaled 110,000 new jobs.
Since 1994, City agencies have been aggressively developing new management techniques and technology applications to assist them in maintaining and improving services, even when faced with downsizing. For example, in the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings, despite a six percent reduction in headcount between FY 1994 and FY 1997, the office resolved 124 percent more cases. In the Department of Correction, headcount was reduced by three percent but staff were able to process 23 percent more admissions. In the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner the time to complete autopsy reports improved by 57 percent from FY 1995 to FY 1997, with a stable workforce. These efforts are just a few of the many examples of how City agencies are working to improve the delivery of services and delivering more with less.
Copies of the Mayor's Management Report are available from the Mayor's Press Office at City Hall.