NY mayor to meet Boris
The mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, is meeting his new London counterpart for the first time today.
Boris Johnson is expected to discuss crime strategies with visitor before he joins David Cameron for a tour of a London school.
During his campaign, Mr Johnson promised to bring in New York anti-crime strategies such as ‘crime mapping’, where crime levels in each neighbourhood are made public and local police commanders are made accountable at monthly public meetings.
The decision by Mr Johnson to ban drinking on tubes and buses reflects the ‘zero tolerance’ strategy of New York’s former mayor, Rudy Guiliani.
The tactic – which assumes that cracking down on minor crime has a chilling effect on more serious crime – received widespread praise when it drastically reduced criminal offences in the city, but also irked civil liberties groups when it resulted in long prison sentences for cannabis smokers and the closure of sex shops.
Yesterday, Mr Bloomberg met prime minister Gordon Brown and his Irish counterpart Brian Cowen.
