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Community Op-Ed: New York’s safety surge — Historic low shootings, six quarters of declining crime
The Adams administration’s north star has always been public safety. New Yorkers want to send their kids to school, go to work, shop in their local store, go out for dinner, and come home safely to their family and community. They want to feel safe and be safe. And we are delivering for them. Since day one, we have gone to work to sweep out crime and illegal activities from our neighborhoods.
We have removed over 22,300 illegal guns from our streets, tackled subway crime, serious mental health issues, and taken on quality-of-life issues. The numbers are in; and the second quarter crime data for this year shows our public safety strategy continues to make our city safe. We have now had six straight quarters of decreasing crime — since January 1, 2024.
For the first six months of 2025, shootings are at their lowest point in recorded history, tying the record previously set in 2018. And when you compare this six-month period to the same period in 2021, right before the Adams administration began our mission to address violent crime, shootings are down an astronomical 54 percent.
Major crime is down 5.5 percent, equating to 3,348 fewer major crimes. That’s thousands of people who did not fall victim to a crime because we remained focused. Homicides are down more than 23 percent this year. Robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny, and auto theft also continue to decline year-to-date. For the month of June, crime was down 6 percent, with declines in every single major crime category. That means drops in homicide, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny, and auto theft.
Our subways are getting safer, with transit crimes declining in June, in the second quarter, and year-to-date. This is thanks to the surge of police in our transit system where we need them most, on our trains and on our platforms. Because of these efforts, we have reached another record, with robberies in the transit system at the lowest they have ever been.
Business owners have also seen retail theft drop by more than 17 percent in June, and about 10 percent year-to-date, ensuring money stays in hard working New Yorkers pockets and not in the hands of criminals.
And we continue to keep all our communities safe, with hate crimes declining by 17 percent drop in the second quarter, and 16 percent year to date. This year-to-date decline has been driven by decreases in antisemitic hate crimes, which are down 18 percent and Muslim hate crimes, which is down 11 percent. Hate crimes based on sexual orientation, are also down 47 percent.
This reduction in crime is no accident; it is the result of our administration’s clear and continuing focus on taking on crime and quality of life issues. We have listened to New Yorkers and worked to make our city safer.
Through our Community Link Initiative, we are addressing quality of life concerns like illegal vending, overflowing trash, excessive noise, substance use, and illegal vehicles. We have taken 100,000 illegal vehicles and mopeds off our street since the start of the administration, and shut more than 1,500 illegal smoke shops, which are reopening as thriving small business.
All these numbers show real progress. But we will not rest, we will continue to work tirelessly every day and everywhere to build a safer, more affordable city that is the best place to raise a family. Because of our steadfast focus on public safety, and the hard work of the brave men and women of the NYPD, New York City remains the safest big city in America.
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