William Hoiles / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0
NEW YORK – New York City recorded fewer shootings, shooting victims and murders in the first ten months of 2026 than in any comparable period in the NYPD’s recorded history, the department said, even as confirmed anti-Jewish hate crimes and major crime in the subway system increased.
The department’s November 9 crime release reported 536 shooting incidents from January through October, down 10.4% from 598 in the same period of 2025. Shooting victims declined 13% to 649 from 746, while murders fell 15.7% to 230 from 273.
Major crime citywide declined 6.5% to 96,059 from 102,726, according to the department’s figures. Retail theft fell 12.2% to 39,008 from 44,447. For October alone, major crime declined 8.6% to 9,750 from 10,670, with reductions in all five boroughs.
The figures were not uniformly lower. Confirmed anti-Jewish hate crimes totaled 279 through October, up 4.1% from 268 a year earlier. That category is distinct from the total for all confirmed hate crimes, which rose 15.2% to 530 from 460.
In October, confirmed anti-Jewish hate crimes were unchanged at 26. They accounted for 57.8% of the 45 confirmed hate crimes in the month. The department separately recorded 52 incidents reported as hate crimes, including 31 reported as anti-Jewish.
The distinction between reported and confirmed incidents matters: the NYPD said its Hate Crime Task Force investigates allegations and, in consultation with the department’s Legal Bureau, determines whether an incident constitutes a hate crime under state law. Reported incidents are not automatically confirmed hate crimes.
Major crime in the subway system rose 2.2% in the first ten months to 1,825 from 1,786. In October, the count increased to 195 from 173, a rise of 12.7%. Citywide shooting incidents also edged higher for the month, to 47 from 45, despite the year-to-date decline.
Police Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch attributed the broader reductions in violence to the department’s targeted work on gangs, illegal guns and the people driving shootings. The NYPD said it had carried out 26 gang-related takedowns and seized more than 4,500 illegal guns during 2026. Those are the department’s figures and explanation for the trend.
All crime statistics in the release are preliminary and subject to further analysis, revision or change, the NYPD said.
JBizNews Desk | New York
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