Is NYC safe? NYPD releases new crime rate data
NEW YORK - Is the crime rate up or down in NYC? Reports of stabbings, chaos inside the subway system and even an attempted kidnapping have New Yorkers on high alert.
Yet does this really mean New York City isn't safe? The NYPD released crime statistics for last month, showing trends in murder, felony assault, transit crime and more.
An NYPD officer checks under a car at a crime scene in Bed-Stuy on Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022.
Here's a look at that report, along with some of the top NYC crime stories that dominated headlines in April:
NYC crime stats: April
According to NYPD statistics, overall April crime was down in the Big Apple by 4.9% compared to the same month last year.
Crime year-to-date is trending downward in 2024: From Jan. 1, 2024, to April 28, 2024, the NYPD reported 37.8K major crimes (murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny and grand larceny auto). In that same period in 2023, the agency logged approximately 39K major crimes.
Murders were down 30.3%, with 23 this month compared to 33 in April 2023. Burglaries also saw a double-digit percentage point decrease, with 1,003 reported this month compared to 1,122 in April 2023. Shooting incidents dipped by 15.5%.
However, the city saw a 5.1% increase in rape and a 7.2% increase in robberies. And year-to-date, the city has seen an increase in felony assaults: 8.58K in 2024 compared to 8.33K in 2023.
The city's subways have been the focus of most New Yorkers' crime anxieties, but according to the MTA, overall crime is down on the rails.
"Major crimes in the nation’s largest subway system plummeted another 23%, continuing a downward trend that saw previous transit system decreases of 15.4% in February and 23.5% in March," the NYPD said in a press release.
Hate crimes in total are up 39%, and hate crimes targeting Jewish and Muslim populations have doubled. This spike is "not unrelated to current geopolitics," the NYPD said.
Top NYC crime stories: April
Here's a look at some of the top crime stories last month in New York City:
9-year-old girl punched in face at Grand Central Terminal
- A man was arrested for allegedly punching a 9-year-old girl in the face at Grand Central Terminal. According to police, the girl was standing near her mother in the dining concourse when the suspect, identified as 30-year-old Jeancarlos Zarzuela, approached and punched her.
Woman shoved down church stairs in brutal robbery
- A 68-year-old woman was punched and shoved down the stairs of a Queens church in a brutal robbery that was caught on surveillance video.
String of robberies in Central Park
- Robberies and assaults in Central Park are causing the NYPD to increase patrols as more people are expected to take advantage of the NYC park during the nice weather.
Man snatches teen from apartment, mom fights back
- Harrowing video shows a man jumping out of a stairwell, snatching an 18-year-old and dragging her down her Queens building's stairs before the teen's mother intervenes, fighting off the would-be kidnapper.
Woman punched repeatedly in face on subway train
- A 55-year-old woman was punched in the face repeatedly on a subway train by another woman in Queens, the NYPD said.
66 year-old punched in head inside subway station
- A 66-year-old woman was punched in the head after a dispute with another woman inside a Brooklyn subway station, the NYPD said.
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