The 20th Precinct is located at 120 West 82nd Street (Google Maps)
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The NYPD announced this week that New York City recorded the fewest shooting incidents, shooting victims, and murders in recorded history for the first two months of the year. Major crime declined roughly 8% citywide, with decreases across every borough and 1,100 fewer reported crimes compared to the same period last year.
The Upper West Side, however, has not followed that trend. Across the two precincts covering the neighborhood — the 20th and 24th — overall index crime is up year-to-date, with 321 major crimes reported so far in 2026 compared to 275 during the same period last year, an increase of 46 incidents.
Grand larceny has been the primary driver. The 20th Precinct (view map) recorded 108 grand larcenies, up from 85 last year, while the 24th Precinct (view map) reported 63, up from 57 — a combined increase of 29 incidents across the Upper West Side. Burglary also rose, with 62 reported between the two precincts compared to 52 last year. That runs counter to the citywide trend, where burglary dropped more than 20% to the lowest year-to-date level in recorded history.
The assault picture is mixed. Felony assaults in the 20th Precinct more than doubled, rising from 10 to 21, while the 24th Precinct saw a notable decline, dropping from 30 to 16. Combined, felony assaults across the UWS fell slightly, from 40 to 37.
On the positive side, both precincts recorded zero murders and there has been one shooting incident across the entire Upper West Side so far this year. Petit larceny — which covers lower-level thefts — declined from a combined 425 incidents to 375. Housing crime in the 24th Precinct dropped sharply, from 24 incidents to 7, and transit crime in the 20th Precinct fell from 4 to zero.
Citywide, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch credited the improvements to “targeted, data-driven policing,” pointing to the department’s Winter Violence Reduction Plan, which deploys up to 1,800 uniformed officers to nightly foot posts across high-crime zones. Since that initiative launched in January, major crime is down 23.1% and shootings are down 66.7% in those zones.
The city recorded 32 murders in the first two months of the year, beating the previous all-time low of 38 set in 2018. Retail theft fell 24.7% in February despite typically rising during winter months. Transit crime was one citywide concern, rising 18.5% in February, which the NYPD attributed partly to extreme cold and snow that shifted ridership patterns.
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