Crime in New York City done so much to make them safe — what has it been about our activities that have made so many alienated?". On August 2, 2016, James P. O'Neill was appointed Police Commissioner of New York City by Mayor Bill de Blasio, effective September 2016. The boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island have historically had low crime rates compared to The Bronx and Manhattan. The Bronx, specifically the South Bronx, had some of the poorest neighborhoods in the country, as well as very high crime areas. However, its image as a poverty-ridden area developed in the latter part of the
Staten Island Tunnel funded by the city, the tunnel was expected to help expand the then-sparsely populated borough in a similar manner to the population and development explosions seen in Brooklyn and the Bronx. Under the Dual Contracts, three routes were proposed—two to Brooklyn and one to Manhattan—which would connect the Staten Island Railway's rapid transit service (SIRT) to existing subway lines. The Manhattan proposal, often called the "direct route," would have connected with the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT)'s lines under Battery Park, near the current Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel. "Direct Route A" would have utilized a five-section tunnel under the New York Harbor,