Murders were at their lowest level in the first three months in 2026 compared to the first three months of any year in the city’s recorded history, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced Thursday.

“In the first three months of the year, New York City has recorded the fewest murders since we began tracking these numbers decades ago,” Mamdani said.

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Murders were at their lowest level in the first three months in 2026 compared to the first three months of any year in the city’s recorded history, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced Thursday

In total, there were 54 murders across the five boroughs — an improvement on the previous record of 60 set in 2018, and a 28% drop, or 21 fewer people murdered, compared to the first three months of last year

Major crime — which includes the categories of murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny and grand larceny auto — was down more than 5% overall across the city in the first three months of 2026 compared to the first three months of last year, NYPD stats show

The only crime category that did not decline was rape, which was up 10% citywide compared to the first three months of 2025, according to NYPD data. Tisch attributed the increase to a change in state law in 2024 that she said was “rightfully” implemented to adjust the legal definition of rape to include a wider range of incidents

In total, there were 54 murders across the five boroughs — an improvement on the previous record of 60 set in 2018, and a 28% drop, or 21 fewer people murdered, compared to the first three months of last year.

Brooklyn saw a 57% decline in murders and Manhattan recorded a more than 44% decrease, the NYPD said. The department added that there have been zero murders on Staten Island in 2026. It has been 178 days since the last recorded murder on Staten Island, authorities said, which is the second-longest period without a murder in that borough in recorded history.

Police said there was a 6% drop in murders in Queens as well, but the Bronx saw an increase of two murders (21 total) in the Bronx in the first three months of this year compared to the first three months of 2025 (19 total).

Major crime — which includes the categories of murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny and grand larceny auto — was down more than 5% overall across the city in the first three months of 2026 compared to the first three months of last year, NYPD stats show.

The stats indicate that the Bronx had the biggest decrease, with a 9.4% drop in overall major crime. In Manhattan, there was a 7% drop; Staten Island had a decline of 5%; Queens recorded a more than 2% decline; and Brooklyn had a 1% decline.

“How did we do that? We identified the communities historically plagued by violent crime and deployed an unprecedented number of cops to our violence reduction zones — these are places that have been hardest hit and now we are seeing tremendous progress,” Tisch said.

The NYPD says it recorded a match of last year’s record-low level of shooting incidents at 139 across the first three months of the year. The number of shooting victims — 163 — also matches the first three months of last year.

Tisch credits the low number to the fact that the NYPD has taken more than 1,000 guns off city streets since Jan. 1.

According to the NYPD, felony assaults declined for the first year since 2021, with 44 fewer incidents so far this year compared to 2025. Robberies are down nearly 8% citywide, according to the NYPD, and burglaries also fell 21% citywide and are at their second-lowest level in recorded history.

Grand larceny was down nearly 4% across the city over the first three months of 2026, and auto thefts were also down nearly 4%, NYPD stats show.

“Each of these numbers paint a picture of a safer, more welcoming picture for our fellow New Yorkers, and they a tell a story that statistics can never full capture — countless subway rides, evening walks and trips to the park that ended exactly as they should’ve: boringly, without incidents,” Mamdani said. “A pleasant stroll down the block does not make headlines. A grocery trip that ends with a full refrigerator does not register as remarkable.”

The only crime category that did not decline was rape, which was up 10% citywide compared to the first three months of 2025, according to NYPD data. Tisch attributed the increase to a change in state law in 2024 that she said was “rightfully” implemented to adjust the legal definition of rape to include a wider range of incidents.

There was also an 11.7% increase in “confirmed” hate crimes, or crimes determined to be hate crimes by the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force, with the sharpest rise in anti-Muslim hate crimes at 140%, according to NYPD data. Antisemitic hate crimes comprised a majority — 55% — of all incidents.

Tisch said Thursday was the first time the NYPD reported hate crimes using a new method to organize the data. This “gold standard,” as she referred to it, includes both reported hate crimes, which are flagged for investigation by the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force, and confirmed hate crimes, which are determined by the task force.

The commissioner said these can vary from an act of violence to the drawing of a symbol and said she made the decision to report the numbers this way on her own, without consultation with the mayor.

The NYPD said overall crime in public housing fell 7.2% compared to the first three months of 2025, with murders, shooting incidents, shooting victims and robberies all reaching record lows.

Transit crime ended the quarter down 1%, according to the NYPD. Tisch said the department had seen an uptick in January and February after adjustments they made due to cold temperatures, but recorded a drop again in March after adding 150 officers to the transit system.

School-related crime has declined 6% so far this year compared to 2025, according to the data, with shootings down nearly 75% in the Bronx where the “issue is most concentrated,” Tisch said.

The NYPD also reported that retail theft is down 20% citywide compared to the first quarter of last year.