NYC, October 12 — By nightfall, New York City’s streets echoed a new rhythm, the city’s residents describing a startling shift in the urban pulse. On October 6, Police Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch announced a historic decline in crime for the first nine months of 2026.
The NYPD recorded the fewest shooting incidents, shooting victims, and murders in the city’s recorded history for the initial nine months of the year. The third quarter saw a 9.4% decrease in major crime, a drop from 33,471 incidents to 30,319.
Year to date, 489 shooting incidents occurred, surpassing the previous record low of 553 set in 2025. Shooting victims totaled 594, below the prior record of 694 from 2018 and 2025. Murders reached 203, fewer than the previous low of 215 in 2017.
Compared to 2021, 846 fewer people have been shot in New York City so far in 2026. During the third quarter of 2026, there were 167 shooting incidents, beating the 2025 record of 216; 213 shooting victims, below the 2018 record of 283; and 73 murders, fewer than the 2017 record of 79.
The Bronx led with an 11.9% drop in major crime, with 20,751 incidents recorded compared to 23,545 at the same time last year. In public housing, murders decreased 33.3%, shooting incidents fell 35.5%, shooting victims dropped 38.6%, and robberies declined 18.5% since the start of 2026. The NYPD removed 4,100 guns from city streets since January 2026, including 1,127 in Brooklyn, 1,003 in Manhattan, 970 in the Bronx, 778 in Queens, and 222 on Staten Island.
A total of 257 of these were ghost guns. Detectives conducted 25 gang-related takedowns in 2026. Mayor Zohran Mamdani praised the results, crediting the NYPD’s precision policing strategy, violence interrupters, and crisis management teams for contributing to the historic declines in violence.
