The Big Apple just saw the fewest number of murders over the first six months of any year in history — as an unprecedented dip in major crime spread across the metropolis in 2026, new NYPD statistics show.
The five boroughs saw 122 murders through the end of June this year, a near 25% drop over the 162 over the same span last year, and shattered the 2017 record of 136 in 2017, the statistics show.
Shootings, transit crime and robberies also all dipped across the city so far this year — for a nearly 6% overall drop in major crimes despite New York’s Finest grappling with millions flocking into town for the Knicks NBA title and victory parade, FIFA World Cup games and the America250 celebration.
“Those results would be significant in any year,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters Thursday. “But they’re especially significant now because New York City is in the middle of one of the busiest seasons that it has ever seen, with the NYPD managing some of the largest and most complex overlapping events in the country.
“Even with all this happening at once, and with New York once again on the globa stage, this department is continuing to drive down major crime,” Tisch said.
The only blemish in the Apple are a continued increase in rapes and hate crimes, more than half of them designated at antisemitic incidents, the stats show.
But all else is rosy.
Through the end of June this year, police reported 322 shootings, beating the record low of 337 set in 2018 and 2025, with 381 shooting victims, which shattered the 2025 previous low of 387 in 2025.
Shooting incidents are actually less than half of what they were five years ago during the Covid-19 crime increase, the numbers show.
Other major crimes continued to dip, including a nearly 16% drop in burglaries, with 5,354 over the first six months of 2026, compared to 6,359 over the same period last year. Robberies dipped to 6,387 this year after 7,248 last year, a 12% decrease.
Public housing tenants have also been safer so far this year, with 2,659 major crimes reported across housing authority sites, compared to 2,905 over the same span last year, a 9% decrease.
Cops also continued to chip away at transit crime, which hit its lowest levels since 2009 last year and started off this year with a near 2% dip — 231 major crimes underground compared to 565 year to date.
Meanwhile, the Bronx — once a thorn in the department’s side — now leads the five boroughs in crime reduction, with 13,434 crimes reported through June 30 compared to 15,208 over the same six months last year, for a 12% overall decrease.
The northern most borough has been a pet project for Tisch, who split the Bronx in half to create two patrol commands where there once was one, throwing 200 more cops into the borough.
But not all the news is good — rapes continue to buck the trend, with 1,066 reported attacks between Jan. 1 and June 30, up from 1,008 over the same time span last year, a nearly 6% increase.
While troubling, Tisch said the number is partly inflated due to a September 2024 change in state law that expanded the definition of rape — although she said victims still underreport sexual assaults.
Another statistics that continues to defy the NYPD’s best efforts are hate crimes, with police reporting 322 incidents so far this year, up from 299 last year, with antisemitic incidents the largest percentage.
“While Jewish New Yorkers comprise only 10% of our city’s population, antisemitic hate crimes account for 55% of all confirmed hate crimes,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Thursday.
“There is no room for hatred of any kind in our city, which is why in the budget that we recently passed, City Hall fulfilled a promise made on the campaign trail and increased hate crime prevention funding by more than 800%” he told reproters.
