You’ve probably seen the headlines. Maybe you’ve seen the viral videos of shoplifting in Midtown or heard a neighbor vent about a package thief. It’s a weird time to talk about the crime of New York. If you look at the official numbers from the NYPD, the city is actually coming off one of its safest years in modern history.
But if you ask someone waiting for the G train at 2:00 AM, they might tell you a different story.
There’s a massive gap right now between "statistical safety" and "perceived safety." Honestly, both sides have a point. In 2025, New York City recorded its safest year ever for gun violence. Shooting incidents dropped to 688—the lowest since the city started keeping modern records. Yet, at the same time, certain types of "quality of life" crimes and specific felony categories are still higher than they were before the world flipped upside down in 2020.
Basically, the city is safer from the "big stuff" like murders, but it feels more chaotic in the day-to-day.
What the 2025 Data Actually Tells Us About the Crime of New York
Let's look at the hard facts. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch and the NYPD recently released the final tallies for 2025, and the drop in violence is pretty staggering.
Murders fell by over 20% last year. We're talking 305 homicides in a city of 8.3 million people. To put that in perspective, Chicago—which has about a third of New York’s population—saw over 400 murders in the same timeframe. If you’re worried about the most extreme forms of violence, New York remains, statistically, the safest big city in America.
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The Good, The Bad, and the Statistically Weird
- Shootings: Hit an all-time record low. Only 688 incidents citywide.
- The Subway: Major crime underground fell by 4%. 2025 was actually the safest year on the subways since 2009 (if you ignore the weird pandemic years when nobody was riding).
- Robberies: These dropped about 10% citywide.
- The Rape Statistic Jump: This is where it gets complicated. Reported rapes went up about 16%. However, experts like those at the Brennan Center for Justice point out that New York changed its legal definition of rape in 2024 to include a much broader range of nonconsensual acts. It's likely that the "increase" is more about better reporting and a wider legal net than a sudden surge in attacks.
Why does it still feel sketchy?
The "vibes" aren't great because of felony assaults and retail theft. While shootings are down, felony assaults—which include everything from serious bar fights to attacks on police officers—actually ticked up slightly. They've risen about 42% since 2019.
When people talk about the crime of New York feeling "out of control," they’re usually talking about these random, non-gun confrontations or the guy screaming at 4th Avenue-9th Street. These incidents don't always end in a hospital visit, but they definitely ruin your commute.
The Retail Theft "Epidemic" and the Rebound
Shoplifting became the face of NYC crime for a minute there. You couldn't buy a stick of deodorant without a CVS employee unlocking a plastic case. It felt like the city was being picked clean by "recidivists"—the legal term for people who get arrested, released, and go right back to the same store.
By the end of 2025, the NYPD's "precision policing" started to move the needle. They shifted from just "passing through" stores to sustained investigations into the fencing rings that buy stolen goods. The result? Retail theft finally dropped 14% last year. It’s still high, but the "looting" narrative is starting to lose its steam as the city cracks down on the organized side of shoplifting.
Breaking Down the Boroughs: It's Not a Monolith
You can't really talk about the crime of New York as if it's the same in Astoria as it is in Brownsville. The progress has been uneven.
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In Manhattan, shooting incidents plummeted by 38% in 2025. That’s huge. Staten Island saw a 60% drop in murders. Meanwhile, Queens actually saw a 7% increase in murders, even as other crimes fell. It shows that while the city-wide trend is "down," specific neighborhoods are still dealing with localized gang friction or domestic violence spikes.
Transit Safety: The Ghost in the Machine
The subway is the heart of the city, so when something happens there, everyone hears about it. In 2025, the city flooded the stations with officers. You've probably seen them—groups of four or five standing by the turnstiles.
Does it work?
Well, transit robberies hit an all-time low last year. Even "grand larceny pickpocketing" (which is the classic NYC subway crime) dropped 44%. But here’s the kicker: misdemeanor assaults—the stuff that doesn't involve a weapon but involves getting shoved or hit—are still higher than pre-pandemic levels.
That’s the "ghost" haunting the system. You’re very unlikely to be robbed or shot on a train, but you’re slightly more likely to have a "weird" encounter than you were in 2019.
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Actionable Steps: How to Navigate the City Today
Look, New York isn't the "War Warriors" movie version of the 70s. It's not even the 90s. But it’s also not the "Disney-fied" version of 2015. To stay safe and feel comfortable, you just need a bit of the old-school New York awareness.
- Trust the Transit Data, but Pick Your Spot: Most subway crime happens at 30 specific stations (the big hubs like Times Square or Grand Central). If you're traveling late at night, move to the middle of the platform where the conductor’s car stops.
- Report the "Small" Stuff: The NYPD is currently obsessed with "quality of life" issues. If there's a recurring problem in your neighborhood—like an illegal moped path or a specific shoplifting hotspot—reporting it actually moves the "precision policing" needle.
- Don't Fall for the "Doom Loop" Narrative: Comparing NYC to 2021 is a trap. 2021 was a disaster. Comparing 2025 to 2024 shows a city that is aggressively correcting itself.
The crime of New York is currently a story of two cities: one that is statistically safer than almost any other major American metro, and one that is still figure out how to handle mental health crises and retail chaos. The data says the "surge" is over. Now, the city just needs to make it feel that way.
Stay aware. Use the 311 app for non-emergencies to keep the data accurate. Most importantly, keep riding the train—the more people are out in the streets and in the stations, the safer the city actually becomes.
Next Steps for Staying Informed:
- Check the NYPD CompStat 2.0 portal for weekly updates on your specific precinct.
- Sign up for Notify NYC alerts to get real-time info on localized emergencies or police activity.
- Follow your local Community Board meetings to hear directly from Precinct Commanders about neighborhood-level crime trends.