During the 1990s, Washington Heights experienced a drastic decrease in crime.
This can be seen in the 2019 statistics, where the combined 33rd and 34th precinct crime rates showed dramatic reductions from the 1990 rates in motor vehicle theft (96.3% decrease), burglary (91.1%), murder (90.3%), and robbery (80.6%), while more modest reductions were made in felony assault (57.1%), rape (50%), and grand larceny (44.1%).
The 30th and 32nd precincts to the south of Washington Heights, which cover most of Harlem above 133rd Street, experienced just as drastic crime drops from 1990 to 2019.
Despite this, the combined per capita crime rate of the 33rd and 34th precincts was lower than that of the Harlem precincts in 2019, with significantly lower rates of murder (50.5%), rape (49.2%), felony assault (39.2%), and robbery (37%), in addition to slightly lower rates of burglary (8.7%) and grand larceny (5.8%); the one exception was motor vehicle theft, which was 13.6% higher in the Washington Heights precincts.

The crime drop, which was felt across all major cities, owed itself largely to the decrease in new users and dealers of crack cocaine, and the move of existing dealers from dealing on the streets to dealing from inside apartments.
In Washington Heights, this meant a move back to the established cocaine dealing culture that had existed before the introduction of crack.
As Terry Williams notes in The Cocaine Kids: The Inside Story of a Teenage Drug Ring, many dealers from the powder cocaine era put greater emphasis on knowing their customers and hid their operations more carefully from police, as opposed to dealers of the crack days who would deal openly and fight violently in the competition for the drug's high profits.

Nonetheless, many also credit actions taken on the neighborhood level in increasing safety in Washington Heights.
After much advocacy from residents, in 1994 the NYPD split the 34th Precinct to create the 33rd Precinct for Washington Heights south of 179th Street, due to the concentration of the drug trade and related crimes in the area.
Another local policing strategy was the "model block" initiative, first attempted in 1997 on 163rd Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, a location notable for the dealers who set up a "fortified complex" complete with traps and electrified wires to prevent police raids on their apartment.
In an attempt to disrupt drug activity on the block, police officers set up barricades at both ends, demanded proof of residence from anyone coming through, patrolled building hallways, and pressured landlords to improve their buildings.
The program was controversial, facing criticism from the New York Civil Liberties Union and resistance from some residents for its invasion of privacy, but it did drastically reduce crime on the block, and the initiative was expanded throughout the city and even exported to Chicago.

Although the improved safety was welcomed by all, violence itself was not the only outcome of the crack crisis; it also left scars on important neighborhood institutions, especially parks.
Fort Tryon Park fell into a period of decline after the 1975 New York City fiscal crisis, when evaporated Parks Department funds left its walkways and playgrounds in a state of disrepair, which only got worse during the crack crisis, when several corpses where found in the park.
After work from the Fort Tryon Park Trust and the New York Restoration Project throughout the 1990s and 2000s, funded by the city with the help of generous private donations, the park was restored, leaving behind its reputation as a criminal area.
Highbridge Park, however, had the same problems as Fort Tryon Park but went without any major restoration funding for a while, likely due to being on the poorer side of Washington Heights and lacking a frequently touristed landmark like The Cloisters.
In 1997, the New York Restoration Project began to work on maintaining the park, but without the necessary funding most of the park's problems continued.
In 2016, however, the park received $30 million in restoration fundi
During the 1990s, Washington Heights experienced a drastic decrease in crime. This can be seen in the 2019 statistics, where the combined 33rd and 34th precinct crime rates showed dramatic reductions from the 1990 rates in motor vehicle theft (96.3% decrease), burglary (91.1%), murder (90.3%), and robbery (80.6%), while more modest reductions were made in felony assault (57.1%), rape (50%), and grand larceny (44.1%). The 30th and 32nd precincts to the south of Washington Heights, which cover most of Harlem above 133rd Street, experienced just as drastic crime drops from 1990 to 2019. Despite this, the combined per capita crime rate of the 33rd and 34th precincts was lower than that of the Harlem precincts in 2019, with significantly lower rates of murder (50.5%), rape (49.2%), felony assault (39.2%), and robbery (37%), in addition to slightly lower rates of burglary (8.7%) and grand larceny (5.8%); the one exception was motor vehicle theft, which was 13.6% higher in the Washington Heights precincts.
The crime drop, which was felt across all major cities, owed itself largely to the decrease in new users and dealers of crack cocaine, and the move of existing dealers from dealing on the streets to dealing from inside apartments. In Washington Heights, this meant a move back to the established cocaine dealing culture that had existed before the introduction of crack. As Terry Williams notes in The Cocaine Kids: The Inside Story of a Teenage Drug Ring, many dealers from the powder cocaine era put greater emphasis on knowing their customers and hid their operations more carefully from police, as opposed to dealers of the crack days who would deal openly and fight violently in the competition for the drug's high profits.
Nonetheless, many also credit actions taken on the neighborhood level in increasing safety in Washington Heights. After much advocacy from residents, in 1994 the NYPD split the 34th Precinct to create the 33rd Precinct for Washington Heights south of 179th Street, due to the concentration of the drug trade and related crimes in the area. Another local policing strategy was the "model block" initiative, first attempted in 1997 on 163rd Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, a location notable for the dealers who set up a "fortified complex" complete with traps and electrified wires to prevent police raids on their apartment. In an attempt to disrupt drug activity on the block, police officers set up barricades at both ends, demanded proof of residence from anyone coming through, patrolled building hallways, and pressured landlords to improve their buildings. The program was controversial, facing criticism from the New York Civil Liberties Union and resistance from some residents for its invasion of privacy, but it did drastically reduce crime on the block, and the initiative was expanded throughout the city and even exported to Chicago.
Although the improved safety was welcomed by all, violence itself was not the only outcome of the crack crisis; it also left scars on important neighborhood institutions, especially parks. Fort Tryon Park fell into a period of decline after the 1975 New York City fiscal crisis, when evaporated Parks Department funds left its walkways and playgrounds in a state of disrepair, which only got worse during the crack crisis, when several corpses where found in the park. After work from the Fort Tryon Park Trust and the New York Restoration Project throughout the 1990s and 2000s, funded by the city with the help of generous private donations, the park was restored, leaving behind its reputation as a criminal area. Highbridge Park, however, had the same problems as Fort Tryon Park but went without any major restoration funding for a while, likely due to being on the poorer side of Washington Heights and lacking a frequently touristed landmark like The Cloisters. In 1997, the New York Restoration Project began to work on maintaining the park, but without the necessary funding most of the park's problems continued. In 2016, however, the park received $30 million in restoration fundi
Washington Heights, Manhattan