Broken Windows, Broken City a Sobering Reality Check for Gotham
As the author of "Broken Windows, Broken Business," this writer has long understood — and passionately advocated — for the profound power of the "Broken Windows" theory in both urban policing and business management.
The core principle is simple: when minor problems go unaddressed, more significant problems inevitably follow.
A broken window left unfixed signals to the world that no one cares, and it's this type of neglect which invites further disorder.
That's why I wholeheartedly support the long-overdue recent decision by the New York Police Department (NYPD) commissioner to reimplement the Broken Windows approach to help fix the broken quality of life in New York City. But while this writer's support is enthusiastic, such optimism is tempered by the cold, complex realities of 2025.
The painful truth is this: it's impractical to expect any meaningful Broken Windows program to succeed, given the NYPD's current and dangerously diminished size.
As of February 2025, the NYPD employs approximately 34,000 sworn officers — down significantly from the more than 38,000 officers who patrolled the city during the 1990s, when Broken Windows policing played a pivotal role in transforming New York from a decaying, lawless mess into the "safest big city in America."
That reduction of 4,000 officers is no small matter, it's compounded by the fact that today's New York faces a far more complex and deeply entrenched web of crises than it did 30 years ago.
Today's NYPD is tasked not only with tackling rampant street crime but also with managing an out-of-control homelessness crisis, an unprecedented influx of illegal migrants, and a district attorney's office repeatedly showing disgraceful softness on crime.
Frankly, given the sheer scope of New York City's decay — which has been allowed to fester and marinate for years — I believe a minimum of 40,000 officers would be necessary to implement a serious, effective Broken Windows program in 2025.
The current force of 34,000 is simply insufficient for the task at hand.
Moreover, it would be a grave mistake to think that policing alone can fix the broken windows of New York City.
Clean streets, functioning infrastructure, and a sense of civic pride are as critical to restoring order as arresting fare-jumpers or cracking down on open drug use.
That means the Sanitation Department — another woefully disgraceful, underperforming arm of city government — must also be reformed and reinvigorated if we hope to make a lasting difference.
Over the past five years, New York's sanitation services have become a national embarrassment. Streets are filthy, trash piles up for days, and basic cleanliness standards have become the exception rather than the rule.
Combine this with the fact that New York City remains the highest-taxed city in the highest-taxed state in America, and the whole situation becomes downright nauseating.
Residents pay a premium to live in an increasingly unlivable city.
The harsh reality is that while reinstating Broken Windows policing is necessary, it is far from sufficient.
We need a comprehensive quality-of-life strategy recognizing that crime, cleanliness, and civic pride are deeply interconnected. You cannot expect to restore order to a city if it still looks and feels like a garbage dump.
When the government signals indifference through filthy streets, chaotic transit, and unpunished lawlessness, you cannot expect law-abiding citizens to take pride in their neighborhoods.
Let's be clear: Broken Windows policing should never have been abandoned in the first place. Its removal was an act of civic malpractice, driven by political pandering and short-sighted ideology rather than by evidence or results.
As New York teeters on the edge of a full-blown quality-of-life collapse, we have no choice but to bring it back — and fast.
But for Broken Windows to work this time, it must be implemented realistically, with adequate workforce, inter-agency cooperation, and unwavering political will.
It will require a re-commitment from the NYPD and a radical reform of the city's sanitation and public works departments.
It will require elected officials willing to endure the inevitable criticism from activists and the media and who dare to prioritize the silent majority of law-abiding New Yorkers who want a clean, safe, and sane city to call home.
As someone who has studied and written extensively about the theory and the practice of Broken Windows, this writer can say with certainty that this approach works — but only if the conditions are right.
New York lacks the staffing and, seemingly, the political will to do the hard, unglamorous work of repairing its shattered social fabric.
We can only hope that changes — and fast.
Because if it doesn't, the most important city in the world will continue its slow slide into chaos and despair.
And that would be a tragedy far more significant than any broken window.
Michael Levine is an American writer and public relations expert. He is the author of books on public relations including Guerrilla PR. He's represented 58 Academy Award winners, 34 Grammy Award winners, and 43 New York Times best-sellers, including Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, and George Carlin, among others. Mr. Levine also appeared in "POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold," a 2011 documentary by Morgan Spurlock. He's provided commentary for Variety, Forbes, Fox News, The New York Times, and USA Today. He is known has as the "Michael Jordan of Entertainment PR." Read More of Michael Levine's Reports — Here.