Goldman Sachs boss David Solomon lamented the surge in crime in New York City, which he says has become “a little grittier and a little dirtier” — a key factor that he said has kept his employees away from the office.
“We have to have a safe environment for people,” the Wall Street executive told National Public Radio.
“I think public safety is just paramount for the vitality of cities, and the vitality of cities is paramount for economic activity in our country.”
In May, a Goldman employee, 48-year-old Daniel Enriquez, was fatally shot in what investigators called a random attack while he was riding the subway on his way to brunch.
A few months prior, Michelle Go, a 40-year-old Asian American woman employed by the accounting firm Deloitte, was fatally shoved onto the subway tracks by a homeless man at the Times Square station.
The high-profile incidents have made it harder for Mayor Eric Adams and business executives like Solomon to convince New Yorkers in the tech and finance sectors to return to the office full-time.
“The city is certainly less safe,” Solomon told NPR.
“I would say it’s a little grittier and a little dirtier.”
Solomon said gone were the days when the city was “extraordinarily” safe and he was comfortably raising his kids in a low-crime environment.
The latest New York City crime figures obtained by The Post show a rise in stabbings citywide.
Since the start of this year, there was an 11% rise in the number of stabbings through Aug. 7 compared to the same span last year.
Fatal stabbings rose a whopping 43% — from 48 to 69 — during the same period, according to the data.
Law enforcement officials have blamed bail reform laws that allow recidivist criminals back onto the street even after they are arrested.
The rise in violent crime nationwide has also prompted other businesses to re-evaluate their location.
Earlier this summer, Ken Griffin, the hedge fund billionaire, announced that he was moving his company, Citadel, out of its longtime headquarters of Chicago in favor of Miami.
Citadel told NPR that the move was spurred by the fact that the company had difficulty “recruiting top talent from across the world to Chicago given the rising and senseless violence in the city.”
Chicago police said at least 44 people were shot — eight fatally — across the Windy City since Friday.
A 14-year-old boy was critically wounded in a drive-by shooting Sunday night in Hyde Park.
According to official statistics provided by the Chicago Police Department, there has been a 16% decrease in the number of murders from the start of the year through Aug. 7 — from 474 a year ago to 396 this year.
But there has also been an 18% increase in the number of robberies, a 32% increase in burglaries, a 67% increase in theft cases, and a 54% increase in motor vehicle theft, according to CPD data.
Citadel’s new home, Miami, hasn’t been immune to the surge in violent crime. The Miami-Dade Police Department has also reported significant increases this year in the number of robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries and motor vehicle thefts compared to last year.
