The number of shootings and murders in the Big Apple dropped to record lows during the first six months of the year, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Thursday, touting that both killings and shootings in the city are not only below pre-pandemic levels, but the lowest they’ve been in 30 years.
The NYPD recorded 122 murders across the city for the first six months of the year, 14 fewer than the previous record low of 136 between January and June 2017 and 24% fewer than last year, officials said. Police also investigated 322 shootings, 15 fewer than the previous record low of 337 in 2018, cops said.
The number of murders, shootings and shooting victims are all below what they were at this time last year, officials said. The numbers haven’t been this low since 1994, when the NYPD began tracking crimes through CompStat.
Major crimes in the city have also dropped so far this year by 6%, cops said. Of the five boroughs, the Bronx is leading the city with a 12% drop in crime reduction compared to this time last year.
“This is absolutely historic for the Bronx,” Tisch said of the crime drop.
But while shootings are down citywide, the sound of gunfire has increased slightly in both Manhattan and Queens, according to drilled-down statistics. As of June 28, northern Manhattan has seen a 26% spike in shootings, from 30 in 2025 to 38. Shootings in Manhattan south of Central Park have seen a 25% jump, from 8 to 10.
There was also a slight uptick in shootings in southern Queens, up from 22 to 24, statistics show.
There has also been a jump in hate crimes in the city for the first half of the year, with confirmed anti-Muslim hate crimes jumping by 50%, from 14 to 21 and confirmed anti-LGBT attacks up by 57%, from 21 to 33.
Antisemitic hate crimes have increased by 2%, from 174 to 178, but account for 55% of the incidents investigated by the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Bureau, even though Jews only make up about 10% of the city’s population, cops said.
Police said city public housing complexes have seen “historic lows” in crime, with a 9% reduction over the first six months of the year, down from 2,905 to 2,659, officials said.
Standing next to Tisch at NYPD Headquarters in lower Manhattan, Mayor Mamdani called the crime drops a “remarkable achievement.”
“(It’s) the safest start to any year on record,” Mamdani said, adding that 2,500 illegal guns were removed from the streets.
“This data means much more than bragging rights or a number comparison from last year,” Mamdani said. “Each one represents a life untouched by violence. A New Yorker who will never have to endure what would otherwise be the worst day of their lives.”
Tisch chalked up the low crime numbers to the “result of precision policing and the extraordinary work of the men and women of the NYPD.”
“They are going after the guns, taking down violent gangs, building the cases, making the arrests, and working foot posts that help keep neighborhoods safe,” Tisch said. “The result is the fewest shooting incidents, shooting victims and murders for the first half of any year in recorded history, along with major crime reductions across the city.”
By the end of June, the Bronx — which historically accounts for a third of the city’s murders and shootings — had recorded 13,434 major crimes, 1,774 fewer than the 15,208 it saw in the first six months of 2025.
The crime drops come as Tisch sent an additional 200 officers to the Bronx, as well as splitting the Bronx into two separate patrol commands, which also would bring in more resources.
Despite the crime drops, the number of reported rapes in the city has jumped by nearly 6% for the first half of the year.
The NYPD said its continued push to encourage more victims to report what happened to them, coupled with an expanded definition of what constitutes rape, has fueled the increase.
Roughly 26% of the rapes reported in the first half of 2026 actually occurred in prior years, Tisch said. An additional 20% were linked to the Rape is Rape Act — which went into effect Sept. 1, 2024, broadening the state’s definition of rape to include nonconsensual sexual contact.
“More survivors are coming forward to report past sexual violence,” Tisch said. “We want survivors to come forward. We want these crimes reported. And when they do come forward, the NYPD will investigate those cases and connect them with the support and the services that they need.”