Safest Year on the Subway System Since 2009 Outside the Pandemic Years, Fewest Transit Robberies Ever
Police Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch today announced that the NYPD delivered the safest year ever for gun violence in 2025, with the fewest shooting incidents and shooting victims in recorded history. In December, New York City experienced the fewest shooting incidents in any month ever in recorded history. The NYPD also delivered safety records below ground on the subway, driving transit robberies to the lowest level of all time and making the subway the safest it’s been since 2009, outside of the pandemic years. In addition to the record-low shootings, the NYPD’s precision policing strategy resulted in significant reductions in overall crime, including 1,600 fewer robberies than last year and a 14% decline in retail theft.
"These historic reductions in crime did not happen by chance or accident — they are the direct product of a deliberate, data-driven strategy achieving unprecedented public safety milestones for New York City," said NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch. "The NYPD drove shooting incidents and shooting victims to the lowest levels in recorded history and delivered the safest year on our subway system, outside of the pandemic era, since 2009. These numbers describe an agency that’s firing on all cylinders: taking down violent gangs, removing thousands of guns off the street, and shattering record-low violent crime numbers. New York City is still the safest big city in the country, thanks to the extraordinary work of the women and men of the NYPD who answer the call every day to protect and serve.”
“Last year, New York City had its safest year for gun violence ever. This achievement—among many others—is a testament to the leadership of Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, the dedication of the NYPD, and the tireless work of community-based organizations that help keep our neighborhoods safe,” said New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. “This work, however, is not done. Together with Police Commissioner Tisch and Governor Kathy Hochul, we will continue to drive down crime—addressing the needs of New Yorkers and working with our officers to deliver public safety.”
“When I became Governor, I made keeping New Yorkers safe my top priority and tackled crime head-on in New York City and across the state. Since then, I have made unprecedented investments in police and public safety—over $3 billion -- to make New York’s neighborhoods and subways safer," said New York Governor Kathy Hochul. "Our aggressive approach is paying off: crime has fallen to record lows, making New York a safer place to live, work, and visit. I look forward to continuing this work with Mayor Mamdani, Police Commissioner Tisch, and the brave men and women of law enforcement who sacrifice so much to ensure New York remains the safest big city in the country."
Record-Lows for Shooting Incidents and Victims, Shattering Previous Records
In 2025, New York City recorded 688 shooting incidents, shattering the previous record set in 2018 by 10% (688 vs. 754) with 66 fewer shootings. Compared to 2024, shooting incidents declined by 24% (688 vs. 904), a staggering 216 fewer shootings. In the fourth quarter, shooting incidents were down more than 36% (134 vs. 211) compared to the same period last year. In December, there were only 35 shooting incidents citywide — the fewest shootings ever recorded in any single month in history.
For comparison, Chicago — a city of roughly 3 million people — recorded more than 1,400 shooting incidents over the same period, more than double New York City’s total, despite having roughly one-third of the population. Philadelphia— with a population of 1.5 million people — recorded more than 825 shooting incidents, while having less than one-fifth of New York City’s population.
The number of people shot in New York City also fell to a historic low in 2025 with 856 shooting victims citywide, shattering the previous 2018 record by nearly 5% (856 vs. 897) with 41 fewer victims. Compared to 2024, shooting victims declined by 22% (856 vs. 1,103), a stunning 247 fewer people shot. In the fourth quarter, shooting victims fell by more than 34% (161 vs. 246), with December posting the lowest victim totals ever recorded.
The historic decline reflected a citywide effort, with reductions across all five boroughs in 2025. Shooting incidents declined by 38% in Manhattan, 26.7% in Staten Island, 25.4% in the Bronx, 24.4% in Queens, and 15% in Brooklyn. Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island each recorded their lowest number of shooting incidents in city history.
The NYPD’s work to remove guns from the streets and take down the most dangerous gangs also helped achieve historic lows in shootings. Last year, officers seized more than 5,293 illegal guns and NYPD detectives carried out 70 gang-related takedowns, getting the most dangerous criminals off the streets and out of our communities.
Reductions in Major Crime Across All Five Boroughs
In addition to addressing gun violence, the NYPD successfully drove down major crime by implementing a data-driven, precision policing strategy that resulted in consistent declines throughout the entire year. The department deployed an unprecedented number of officers assigned to nightly foot posts to areas with high crime across precincts, public housing, and the subway system.
This targeted strategy led to a 3% (121,542 vs. 125,026) decline in major crime in 2025.
Across the city, murder declined by 20.2% (305 vs. 382), with 77 fewer murders compared to 2024. In December, murders fell to 15 citywide, down nearly 38% (15 vs. 24) from 2024. Alongside those reductions, the NYPD’s Detective Bureau maintained a murder clearance rate of 69% in 2025. Murders also decreased in four out of the five boroughs. On Staten Island, murders fell by more than 60% in 2025, including zero murders in December. Manhattan was down 33%, Brooklyn was down 24%, and the Bronx was down 18%. In Queens, murders increased slightly by 7%.
Citywide, robberies declined by nearly 10% (15,065 vs. 16,696), with 1,600 fewer incidents compared to last year. For the month of December, robberies declined by 15% (1,039 vs 1,224).
Burglary dropped nearly 4% (12,777 vs. 13,301), marking the third consecutive year of declines. In December, burglary decreased by more than 15% (1,017 vs. 1,201) and by 9.9% (3,168 vs. 3,518) in the fourth quarter.
Auto theft decreased by 5% (13,520 vs. 14,233) citywide in 2025, with a nearly 8% (3,127 vs. 3,386) drop in the fourth quarter compared to 2024.
Grand larceny declined nearly 2% (48,034 vs. 48, 963).
In our housing developments, crime declined by 3.6% (5,794 vs. 6,009).
Hate crimes decreased by 12% (576 vs. 657) compared to 2024. Antisemitic incidents were down 3%, but still accounted for 57% of all hate crimes reported in 2025, despite Jewish New Yorkers representing approximately 10% of the city’s population.
Rape incidents increased by 16% (2,049 vs. 1,767). The rise in reported incidents is partly attributed to legislative changes made in September 2024 that importantly broadened the legal definition of rape in New York State to include additional forms of sexual assault. Domestic-violence-related rapes increased by 25%, and now account for roughly half of all reported rape cases citywide. To address this concerning trend, the NYPD launched the Domestic Violence Unit (DVU) in October 2025 — the largest unit of its kind in the nation with 450 fully dedicated domestic violence investigators — to investigate domestic violence cases, build stronger relationships with survivors, and receive enhanced training. The NYPD continues to encourage survivors of sexual assault to come forward and report these incidents.
Felony assault increased by 0.4% (29,792 vs. 29,684). For the month of December, however, there were 106 fewer felony assault victims compared to the same period in 2024 (2,235 vs. 2,341), a decrease of 4.5% citywide. The increase in felony assaults is largely driven by assaults on public sector employees and domestic violence. Assaults on public sector employees, which include police officers, increased by roughly 25% in 2025. Domestic violence incidents accounted for 41% of recorded felony assaults. To address this issue directly, the Domestic Violence Unit will continue its work with providers and survivors to prevent and investigate domestic violence incidents.
Safest Year on the Subways in 16 Years, Excluding the Pandemic Years
Below ground, the NYPD delivered the safest year on the subways since 2009, excluding the pandemic years. For six consecutive months, major crime on the subways declined, contributing to a 4% (2,160 vs. 2,251) reduction in 2025. Officers recovered an all-time high of 77 firearms, which helped drive a 62.5% (3 vs. 8) reduction in shooting incidents as well as a 78.6% (3 vs. 14) reduction in shooting victims. This decline in violence also contributed to a drop in murders in the subway system, which reached their lowest levels in five years and declined 60% (4 vs. 10) from 2024.
Transit robberies reached their lowest levels ever, including the pandemic years, and fell 12.5% (398 vs. 455), compared to last year. Grand larceny pickpocketing within the subways declined to its lowest level outside of the pandemic years, down nearly 44% (122 vs. 217), compared to last year.
In January, the NYPD strategically shifted officers onto trains and platforms where the vast majority of transit crime — 73% in 2025 — occurs. This targeted deployment has led to a more secure, orderly transit system. New Yorkers are feeling the results: a recent MTA poll revealed that seven out of ten subway riders say they feel safe in the transit system, an increase of 12% from the start of 2025.
Finally, the NYPD continues to deploy drones to monitor, respond to, and intervene in subway surfing incidents. Drones enabled 163 rescues and overall subway surfing incidents declined 37% (11 vs. 16) compared to 2024.
Addressing Retail Theft
In addition to historic declines across index and subway crime, the NYPD’s revamped strategy on retail theft led to a 14% (52, 696 vs. 61,328) decline in retail theft citywide compared to 2024.
Last year, the NYPD developed and executed a new strategy to respond to retail theft, a recidivist-driven crime, including identifying the patterns driving retail theft, concentrating resources at high-propensity locations during peak hours, and shifting from pass-through enforcement to sustained investigation.
Tackling the Daily Issues that Make People Feel Unsafe
In April 2025, the NYPD launched a new Quality of Life Division to respond to the daily issues that impact New Yorkers’ sense of safety. Since 2019, 311 calls have increased substantially by 104%. Q-Teams directly address this issue by focusing on non-emergency 311 and 911 concerns, including cracking down on illegal mopeds, towing abandoned and derelict vehicles, ticketing illegally parked cars, and responding to noise complaints. Citywide, response times for quality-of-life issues improved by an average of 22 minutes in 2025, despite call volume up nearly 10%. The NYPD increased the number of 311 calls it directly addressed and resolved by more than 16%. Since launching, Q-Teams have shut down 465 smoke shops, towed over 15,640 vehicles, and seized 12,571 illegal e-bikes, mopeds, and scooters.
Focused Enforcement Leads to Historic Lows in Traffic Fatalities
The NYPD’s Transportation Bureau kept New Yorkers safe on our roads as well, helping deliver the fewest traffic fatalities in recorded city history. Traffic fatalities dropped by 19% (205 vs. 253) compared to last year. These numbers are the direct result of focused enforcement in priority corridors with the highest numbers of collisions. In 2025, arrests for DWIs increased by 14.6% (4,087 vs. 3,568).
In January, the NYPD announced a new vehicle pursuit policy, outlining clear standards and guidelines that limited pursuits to the most serious, dangerous crime. In the months following the policy change, vehicle pursuits decreased by more than 60% (864 vs. 2,279) compared to 2024. Additionally, fatalities fell by more than 80%, collisions dropped by nearly 50%, and injuries were cut almost in half.
Addressing the Rise in Youth Violence
Despite historic public safety gains in violent crime, youth violence continues to rise as a percentage of overall violent crime. In 2025, 14% of shooting victims were under the age of 18, a 5.2% increase from last year, while 18% of shooting perpetrators were also under 18. Both are at the highest percentages since the NYPD began tracking this data in 2018.
In response, last fall, the department implemented School Safety Zones, modeled after Violence Reduction Zones, to ensure youth are safe. These zones focus on the places where young people are most at risk: commuter corridors, bus stops, and the routes students take to and from school. The early results show that the data-driven strategy is working — overall crime is down 53% and shooting incidents and shooting victims are down more than 75%. The NYPD also changed its strategy with school safety agents, increasing deployments in and around schools. Since implementing this new approach, crime in schools is down 22% with less enforcement. Arrests in schools have dropped 21%.
*All crime statistics are preliminary and subject to further analysis, revision, or change. *
Index Crime Statistics: December 2025
|
Dec. 2025 |
Dec. 2024 | +/- | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Murder | 315 | 324 | -9 | -37.5% |
| Rape | 167 | 152 | 15 | 9.9% |
| Robbery | 1039 | 1224 | -185 | -15.1% |
| Felony Assault | 2235 | 2341 | -106 | -4.5% |
| Burglary | 1017 | 1201 | -184 | -15.3% |
| Grand Larceny | 3783 | 3707 | 76 | 2.1% |
| Grand Larceny Auto | 988 | 925 | 63 | 6.8% |
| TOTAL | 9244 | 9574 | -330 | -3.4% |
|
EOY 2025 |
EOY 2025 | +/- | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Murder | 305 | 382 | -77 | -20.2% |
| Rape | 2049 | 1767 | 282 | 16% |
| Robbery | 15065 | 16696 | -1631 | -9.8% |
| Felony Assault | 29792 | 29684 | 108 | 0.4% |
| Burglary | 12777 | 13301 | -524 | -3.9% |
| Grand Larceny | 48034 | 48963 | -929 | -1.9% |
| Grand Larceny Auto | 13520 | 14233 | -713 | -5% |
| TOTAL | 121542 | 125026 | -3484 | -2.8% |
|
Dec. 2025 |
Dec. 2024 |
+/- | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Transit | 207 | 201 | 6 | 3% |
Housing | 415 | 490 | -75 | -15.3% |
Shooting Incidents | 35 | 61 | -26 | -42.6% |
|
EOY 2025 |
EOY 2024 |
+/- | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Transit | 2160 | 2251 | -91 | -4% |
Housing | 5794 | 6009 | -215 | -3.6% |
Shooting Incidents | 687 | 904 | -217 | -24% |
Hate Crime Statistics: December 2025
(Representing Dec 1 – Dec 31 for calendar years 2025 and 2024)
| Motivation | 2025 | 2024 | +/- | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Age | 0 | 3 | -3 | -100% |
Asian | 5 | 7 | -2 | -29% |
Black | 3 | 6 | -3 | -50% |
Ethnic | 0 | 7 | -7 | -100% |
Gender | 0 | 2 | -2 | -100% |
Hispanic | 1 | 3 | -2 | -67% |
Jewish | 40 | 23 | 17 | 74% |
Muslim | 4 | 1 | 3 | 300% |
Religion | 0 | 2 | -2 | -100% |
Sexual Orientation | 5 | 19 | -14 | -74% |
White | 1 | 0 | 1 | ***** |
Grand Total | 59 | 73 | -14 | -19% |
Hate Crime Statistics: EOY 2025
(Representing Jan 1 – Dec 31 for calendar years 2025 and 2024)
| Motivation | 2025 | 2024 | +/- | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Age | 0 | 3 | -3 | -100% |
Asian | 25 | 38 | -13 | -34% |
Black | 45 | 40 | 5 | 13% |
Ethnic | 16 | 38 | -22 | -58% |
Gender | 28 | 26 | 2 | 8% |
Hispanic | 8 | 14 | -6 | -43% |
Jewish | 330 | 339 | -9 | -3% |
Muslim | 30 | 43 | -13 | -30% |
Religion | 31 | 21 | 10 | 48% |
Sexual Orientation | 52 | 84 | -32 | -38% |
White | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0% |
Grand Total | 576 | 657 | -81 | -12% |
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