New York City has had the safest first six months of any year on record, with shootings and murders reaching historic lows, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Thursday.
The city’s overall crime rate dropped 5.8% year-over-year between Jan. 1 and June 30, new NYPD statistics show.
At a news briefing, Mamdani said the NYPD logged the fewest shooting incidents, shooting victims and murders in recorded history for the first half of the year.
What You Need To Know
The city’s overall crime rate dropped 5.8% year-over-year between Jan. 1 and June 30, new NYPD statistics show
Citywide, murders saw the steepest drop in the first half of the year, falling 24.7% since last year
Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the statistics show his administration’s approach to public safety is working
The department has been tracking crime data using CompStat since 1994.
“This department is continuing to drive down major crime, and let me be clear: that does not happen because of strategy on a page,” Tisch said at the briefing. “It happens because of the men and women of the NYPD who are carrying out that strategy.”
Citywide, murders saw the steepest drop in the first half of the year, falling 24.7% since last year.
The borough that continues to lead the city in crime reduction is the Bronx, with a 12% decrease in overall crime, the NYPD’s statistics show.
Other major crime categories saw significant drops as well. Robbery declined 11.9%, grand larceny dipped 4.2% and burglary dropped 15.8%. Grand larceny auto fell 9.7%, while felony assault stayed the same as last year.
Transit crime, meanwhile, was down 0.6% in the first six months of the year.
“The data reflects what New Yorkers are feeling on our subways, on our streets and across the five boroughs,” Mamdani said. “This data means much more than a bragging right or a point of comparison for next year.”
The NYPD said the department was able to “deliver historic public safety wins” while dealing with events like the NBA Finals, nearby FIFA World Cup matches and the Knicks ticker-tape parade.
Tisch commended her officers for helping to make the city safer.
“They are the ones working foot posts in the heat, they are the ones covering major events, and protests, and parades, and fireworks, all while continuing to answer the calls, make the arrests, recover the guns, and build the cases that drive crime down,” she said.
Mamdani said the statistics show his administration’s approach to public safety is working.
“Each of these numbers represents a life untouched by violence,” he said. “A New Yorker who never had to endure what would have otherwise been the worst day in their life. A New Yorker who will sit down to dinner with their family this evening, without grief heavy overhead.”
“A New Yorker who no longer dreads riding the subway home at night,” he added. “A New Yorker who knows they are safe to take an evening stroll in their neighborhood alone or host a picnic with their family and friends in the park.”