4 THE QUEENS COURIER • JANUARY 2, 2014 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com FILE PHOTO Parking tolls citywide can soon be paid by cell phone. SMART PHONE Drivers can pay for muni-meters via cell BY MAGGIE HAYES mhayes@queenscourier.com City residents can soon pay for parking on the go. Motorists will be able to pay for parking via cell phone and also online at all 14,000 city parking meters, taking away the need to place paper receipts on dashboards. The Department of Transportation (DOT), NYPD and Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the new program on Thursday, December 26. Visitors to Arthur Avenue in the Bronx are the fi rst to trash the receipts. The rest of the city will be on board by early 2015. “By eliminating the need for coins, credit cards or receipts, pay-by-phone parking has already been a game-changer for drivers in the Bronx,” said Janette Sadik- Khan, DOT Commissioner. “Expanding the system across the borough will now help more New Yorkers dial in for faster, more convenient parking.” Drivers will be able to pay by downloading a smartphone app or calling a toll-free number and identifying their location by entering the number displayed on muni-meters. Payment information will be instantly accessible to NYPD traffi c enforcement agents. “Technology is critical to making daily interactions with government simpler and easier,” said NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly. “This innovative program will allow motorists to remotely pay from their mobile devices, and it’s another way we are bringing parking into the 21st century.” The DOT has additionally tested sensors embedded in parking lanes to deliver information on available parking spaces along Arthur Avenue and is looking to expand that system citywide as well. MAYOR’S LEGACY: Murders, shootings at record lows BY CRISTABELLE TUMOLA ctumola@queenscourier.com Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg left offi ce with the fewest murders and shootings in recorded city history. He made the announcement on Friday, December 27, along with NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, at the graduation ceremony for 1,171 new police offi cers at Madison Square Garden. “New York’s crime-fi ghting strategies have made us America’s safest big city – and one that cities across the globe want to learn from,” said Bloomberg. “Twelve years ago, no one thought New York’s crime rate could go any lower. But it did.” There have been 332 homicides so far in 2013, down 20 percent from the previous record low, set last year, according to the mayor. Murders have dropped 32 percent since 2001, when he was elected. In Queens, there were 1,374 fewer homicides between 2002 and December 20 of this year than during the 12 years prior to that period. Shootings have dropped by 32 percent since 2001 and declined by 20 percent from 2012’s record low, with 1,093 shootings through Thursday, December 26. Shootings statistics were fi rst recorded with the introduction of NYPD’s Compstat crime reporting system in 1994, according to the mayor. Crime in schools and on the subway has also seen signifi cant drops in recent years. Major crimes in schools are down 56 percent and violent crime has decreased 55 percent since 2001. In 1990, there were 50 crimes per day on the subway, and only 7.1 crimes per day in 2013. The mayor said the crime drop could not be attributed to more people being sent to prison, since incarceration rates have decreased since 2001. Policing strategies, such as Operation Impact, which pairs rookie and veteran offi cers to “fl ood high-crime zones” and Operation Crew Cut, an initiative combating loosely affi liated gangs, helped keep the shooting and murder rates down, the mayor said. 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