The Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice and the New York City Housing Authority completed an $8.2 million safety-lighting installation project at Castle Hill Houses and a $2.4 million safety-lighting installation project at Butler Houses this week in the Bronx.
The city replaced the developments’ outdated exterior lighting system with state-of-the-art, energy-efficient lighting located at entrances, walkways and parking areas.
The installation of 749 new lighting fixtures at Castle Hill Houses and 245 new lighting fixtures at Butler Houses is part of a strategy to reduce violence and increase neighborhood safety at the 15 NYCHA development sites that accounted for 20 percent of all violent crime in public housing in 2014.
Year to date, total index crime at Butler and Castle Hill Houses is down 21 percent, with most major index categories down or flat. NYCHA-wide, shootings are down 13.95 percent, reflecting the broader 26.92-percent decrease in shootings across PSA 7 and the 36 percent decrease across PSA 8.