New York City has recorded the fewest shooting incidents, shooting victims and murders in its recorded history for the first ten months of a year, the New York City Police Department announced on Monday, November 9.
From January through October 2026, the city logged 536 shooting incidents, beating the previous record low of 598 set in 2025. The number of shooting victims fell to 649, compared with the prior record of 746, also set last year. Murders dropped to 230, below the previous low of 244 recorded in 2017. Compared to 2021, 939 fewer people have been shot so far this year.
“In the first ten months of this year, New York City experienced historic lows in shooting incidents, shooting victims, and murders, with major crime declining in all five boroughs,” Police Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch said. She credited the department’s data-driven strategy of identifying the drivers of violence, taking guns off the streets and going after gangs.
According to the NYPD, detectives have carried out 26 gang-related takedowns in 2026, and officers have seized more than 4,500 illegal guns.
Major crime down 8.6% in October
Major crime fell 8.6% in October compared with the same month last year, from 10,670 to 9,750 incidents. Year to date, major crime is down 6.5%, with 6,667 fewer crimes than in the same period of 2025 – the largest year-to-date reduction in 17 years. Crime declined in all five boroughs, with the Bronx leading the way with an 11.3% drop so far this year.
October was not a record month for gun violence, however. Shooting incidents rose slightly, from 45 to 47, and shooting victims increased from 52 to 55, after last year’s record lows. The department noted that October 2026 still saw the second-fewest shooting incidents for the month in history.
Across the main crime categories, the year-to-date picture looks like this:
- Murder fell 15.7% (230 vs. 273). Brooklyn recorded a record low of 61 murders, down from the previous low of 83 set in 2025.
- Burglary dropped 14.2%, with Queens seeing the largest decline at 25.2%. Residential burglaries fell 18.7%.
- Robbery declined 12.3% (11,252 vs. 12,834).
- Auto theft was down 11.2%.
- Grand larceny, the city’s largest major crime category, fell 6.1%.
- Retail theft decreased 12.2% (39,008 vs. 44,447), with declines in every borough.
Two categories moved in the other direction. Reported rapes rose 1.8% (1,765 vs. 1,734). The NYPD said 24% of this year’s reports involved incidents from prior years, a sign that more survivors are coming forward, and that about one in five fall under the broader legal definition introduced by New York’s Rape is Rape Act in 2024. Felony assaults edged up 0.9%, driven in part by a 7.6% rise in assaults on police officers and other public service workers. Domestic violence accounts for 40% of all felony assaults in the city.
Record lows in public housing
Public housing developments saw some of the steepest declines. Major crime there fell 7.4% year to date and 17.4% in October. Shooting incidents dropped 34.5% to 78, shooting victims fell 36% to 87, and murders declined to 18 – all record lows. Robberies also reached a historic low of 584.
Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens each recorded their fewest public housing shootings on record, and there were zero shooting incidents in Bronx public housing for the entire month of October.
Subway crime ticks up
The transit system remains an exception to the citywide trend. Major crime in the subway rose 2.2% year to date (1,825 vs. 1,786) and 12.7% in October. Even so, the NYPD said 2026 is on track to be the second safest year in the transit system in the last 15 years, excluding the pandemic.
Felony assaults and nonviolent grand larcenies, mostly thefts of unattended belongings, account for the bulk of transit crime. Robberies in the subway, meanwhile, fell to a record low of 332. Of the 749 people arrested for major crimes in the subway this year, more than half had been arrested at least three times before.
Targeted deployments
The department pointed to two targeted initiatives launched this fall. Since the Winter Violence Reduction Plan began on September 28, shooting incidents in the designated zones have fallen 60% during deployment hours, and major crime is down 33.2%. In the Youth Violence Safety Zones, introduced on September 10 for the school year, youth-related crime has dropped by half.
Hate crimes
The NYPD confirmed 45 hate crimes in October, down from 49 a year earlier. Anti-Jewish incidents remained flat at 26 and made up 57.8% of all confirmed hate crimes for the month. Year to date, however, confirmed hate crimes are up 15.2%, from 460 to 530.
All figures are preliminary and subject to revision, the department said.
