Crime and Disorder Reduction Tactics Employed by Management at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City

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General Principle

Specific Tactic

A. Increasing Visibility

  • Install new lighting
  • Replace bulbs in old lighting
  • Clean light reflectors and fixtures
  • Brighten signs
  • Put in white ceilings
  • Use light colour paint and brighter tile on walls
  • Use glass for internal walls
  • Avoid walls that obstruct line of sight
  • Make columns no wider than necessary
  • Make stores easy to see into and out from
  • Use special stripping and sealing chemicals on floors
  • Locate information booths, kiosks, advertising, news-stands to reduce obstruction

B. Close nooks and improve natural supervision

  • Install pushcarts and place them strategically
  • Renovate the food court
  • Avoid interior doors
  • Avoid direct access to extra stairwells
  • Keep stairs away from street entries
  • Close off areas under stairwells
  • Close in areas between columns
  • Bring walls out to columns
  • Close emergency stairs off-hours
  • Block off much of bus station off-hours
  • Use only sawtooth gates off-hours
  • Centralise ticketing
  • Improve street entrances to the building
  • Put merchants in key places, and to fill in empty spots
  • Replace police cars with golf carts in parking structure
  • Use clear glass panels on waiting room walls
  • Wall up unneeded areas
  • Block walls around bus gates against transient take-overs
  • Block elevators from public use
  • Block off construction areas with plywood

C. Improve flows

  • Arrange better stairway and escalator flow pattern
  • Streamline vertical and horizontal circulation
  • Use Agents to solve problems and to keep traffic moving

D. Discourage loitering and hustling in other ways

  • Get rid of low brick walls to discourage transients
  • Put pyramid-shaped brick and plastic spikes on window ledges
  • Put attractive paper in windows of unoccupied shops
  • Construct control centre to block balcony and "meat market"
  • Get rid of benches
  • Put in flip seats
  • Use technology and design to get rid of phone hustlers
  • Locate information kiosks at doors
  • Keep sex magazines out of sight
  • Set up house phones for emergency, information, redcaps
  • Set up new public address system
  • Use legal powers to evict transients
  • Use programs to offer alternative services to transients
  • Hire co-ordinator for transient services
  • Bring police and social workers together on transient problem
  • Train police in dealing with transients
  • Increase supervision of police officers dealing with transients
  • Strengthen communication between police and business tenants

E. Improve retailing

  • Bring in chain retailers
  • Bring in better retail management
  • Provide fax machine to retail tenants
  • Redesign space specifically for retailers
  • Replace restaurants which house hustlers with a benign tenant
  • Get rid of management which let people sleep in bowling alley
  • Close the betting shop
  • Do not welcome hard-drinkers in bowling alley bar
  • Remove violent video games

 

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