Date of Award
Spring 5-2-2019
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Economics
First Advisor
Partha Deb
Second Advisor
Matthew Baker
Academic Program Adviser
Randall Filer
Abstract
This research examines whether opening up grocery stores in underserved areas in New York City have an affect on the occurrence of crimes in those neighborhoods. Using data from the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) on the Food Retail Expansion to Support Health (FRESH) grocery stores and the New York City Police Department (NYPD) on crime statistics by precinct, regressions are run to determine how the different types of crime varies across precincts over time with the introduction of the FRESH program by employing a difference in difference regression with fixed effects. The primary data for my project was collected from Historical New York City Crime Data by the New York City Police Department(NYPD). The key findings are that some incidence of crime, mainly misdemeanors, have declined while the seven major felony offenses have increased in the vicinity of the FRESH stores. This finding may reflect either an increase in felony crimes or be the result of the authorities laying more serious charges in an effort to suppress crime in theses areas.
Recommended Citation
Kraus, Ashley M., "The Effect of the FRESH Program on Crime Rate in NYC" (2019). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/hc_sas_etds/439