NEW YORK, N.Y. — The NYPD reported that January and February saw the fewest shootings and murders ever recorded for the first two months of a year, even as crime in the city’s subway system increased.
The city logged 83 shootings and 97 shooting victims so far in 2026, breaking prior records set in 2025 and 2019. Murders totaled 32, below the previous low of 38 set in 2018. Overall crime dropped 8% year-to-date, representing roughly 1,100 fewer reported incidents.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch credited “targeted, data-driven policing” for the decline, noting reductions in burglaries, robberies, felony assaults and auto theft.
However, transit crime rose 18.5%, or about 30 additional incidents compared to the same period last year. Officials said felony assaults and nonviolent grand larcenies drove the increase. Police attributed part of the spike to colder weather pushing more people into subway stations and trains. The department has deployed roughly 140 additional officers daily to the transit system.
February alone saw 16 murders, down 33% from the same month in 2025. The city also recorded 38 hate crimes, more than half involving Jewish victims.
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