Major crimes including murder, assaults and robberies plummeted city-wide during the first month of the year, according to the NYPD.
Overall crime for the seven major categories dropped 16.8% last month compared to January 2024, with 1,700 fewer offenses reported to police.
Mayor Eric Adams delivered the positive news during his budget testimony before the state Legislature in Albany on Tuesday.
The NYPD stats show that:
- Murders dropped 24% from 33 in January 2024 to 25 this January.
- Robberies sank 26%, from 1,436 to 1,063.
- Felony assaults decreased 6.9% from 2,130 to 1,983.
- Burglary fell 3.7% from 1,100 to 1,059.
- Grand larceny fell 21.7% from 4,161 to 3,256.
- Grand larceny – auto declined 23.1% from 1,167 to 898.
Reported rapes bucked the trend — jumping an alarming 40% from 106 in January 2024 to 149 in the past month.
City officials claimed the increase is an anomaly, due to a new state law that went into effect last September.
The law broadens the classification of rape to include forced oral sex and anal sex as well as vaginal penetration.
Overall, 8,433 major crimes were reported last month, compared to 10,133 in January 2024, the police stats show.
The numbers for this January were similar to that month in 2020, when 8,437 seven major category crimes were tallied — but still higher than in 2019, which saw 7,215, according to NYPD data.
Transit crimes last month also plunged 36.4% from 231 in 2024 to 147 last month and major incidents in public housing developments fell 14.5% from 497 to 425, according to the NYPD data.
A month earlier, a particularly heinous transit crime rattled the city when an illegal immigrant allegedly torched a 57-year-old homeless woman, Debrina Kawam, on a Brooklyn subway train — burning her alive.
Adams, who faces re-election this year while fighting a criminal corruption trial and sagging approval ratings, trumpeted the reduction in crime.
“Public safety is the prerequisite to prosperity, and the latest crime statistics for January prove that our comprehensive approach to combating crime and improving quality of life is not only working — it’s driving real, measurable progress,” Adams told The Post.
“We’re seeing double-digit decreases in both overall crime above ground and transit crime below ground — with shooting incidents in January being the lowest number recorded for the month of January in over 30 years — and we remain committed to ensuring that New Yorkers aren’t just safe but feel safe, too.”
He noted that the NYPD has deployed 1,200 more cops into the subway system, plus 300 additional officers to specifically patrol subway trains overnight in a joint program announced by Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“I want to thank Commissioner [Jessica] Tisch and the incredible men and women of the NYPD for making our streets safer every day. While others advocate for defunding the police, we’ve defended them, and this is just one of countless examples of why New Yorkers want more policing, not less,” Adams said.
Tisch, appointed police commissioner in November, applauded the crime reduction.
“January’s crime declines are an extraordinary testament to the work of our cops,” said Tisch.
“Every day, we are analyzing crime numbers and optimizing our deployments to put cops in zones that need them. That’s starting to deliver real results. And New Yorkers can expect more of that data driven policing to come.”
— Additional reporting by Amanda Woods
