And the best way of deterring the problem I'm talking about is to confiscate the vehicles, preferably before they're sold to these miscreants. Or failing that, the police can rely on tips as to where the owners store these vehicles, and conduct a raid.
They actually do that somewhat regularly, but apparently not often enough.
As others have mentioned, many police departments have been instructed not to give chase. All it takes is one death or serious injury of a bystander to make a major public relations nightmare.
It means enforcing a law to the point it's virtually impossible to violate it. Most of the time the police react to crimes, not prevent them. There isn't enough manpower to do the latter.
It's illegal to own or carry a gun in NYC, so no I don't carry one. I usually don't carry a torch either, although I guess my bike headlights qualify when I'm out riding. I'm fine with whatever self-defense measures are legal where I live. If we ever legalized firearms, maybe I'd buy a few for home defense. Not sure I'd want the legal liability associated with carrying one.
No, parts of NYC are a crime cesspool now. I feel perfectly comfortable walking in my neighborhood at 2 AM. Don't believe all the garbage you hear on the news.
As for Giuliani, my summation of him was first term great, second term not so great. First term he had the police crack down on a lot of minor crimes which were often gateways to worse crimes. If someone got away mugging people, or shoplifting, why not graduate to auto theft or rape next? So by nipping these people in the bud, the police took a lot of criminals off the streets before they became major felons. Second term? That's where he lost a lot of support. He started going after BS stuff like having a beer on your stoop (i.e. open container law), being in parks after dark, jaywalking, sidewalk cycling, etc. Basically a lot of people who had never been in trouble with the law were getting tickets for stuff they often didn't even know was illegal. These people weren't going to become hardened criminals if they weren't ticketed for these things. This overpolicing is responsible in part for policies which now handcuff the police from doing their jobs, even when it's warranted. Bottom line, Giuliani should have stuck to going after pickpockets, aggressive panhandlers, squeegee men, shoplifters, etc. There he had wide support, plus getting these people off the streets actually reduced more serious crimes.