Reducing Crime in Our City and Keeping New Yorkers Safe

Photo by Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office

By Mayor Eric Adams 

Bronx Voice

Community Op-Ed 

April 9, 2025 

NEW YORK - Our North Star has always been keeping New York City streets, subways, and communities safe. This is a pro-public safety administration, and we know that in order for New York City to be the best place to raise a family, our neighborhoods need to be safe. 

Since day one, our administration has been dedicated to making sure New Yorkers are safer and feel safer. We have put thousands of more cops on the beat, taken over 21,000 illegal guns out of the hands of criminals and off our streets, and made our subways safer while getting vulnerable New Yorkers the help they need. The numbers are in, and the first quarter crime data for this year shows our public safety strategy continues to work. We have now had five straight quarters of decreasing crime — since January 1, 2024 — and we are shattering crime record after crime record.

The first three months of the year saw the lowest number of shootings in recorded history. Since the start of modern crime tracking, there has never been this few shooting incidents in ANY quarter in ANY year in our city’s recorded history. New York City also saw the second fewest number of murders in recorded history. Robbery and grand larceny are in their sixth consecutive month of decline, and robberies continue their double-digit dip.

 

Transit crime has also gone down by double digits in the first quarter — for all boroughs that have subway service. This is thanks to the surge of police in our transit system where we need them most, on our trains and platforms.

 

We have listened to New Yorkers and worked to make our city safer. The success of our public safety strategy is due to an intensified focus of police officers assigned to hot spot “zones” across the five boroughs.

 

Our data-driven, precision policing model has already led to the removal of over 1,300 illegal firearms in 2025, including 57 untraceable 3-D printed “ghost guns,” and brings the total to over 21,000 illegal firearms taken off the streets since the beginning of our administration.

 

These gun seizures directly influenced an almost 29 percent drop in shooting victims in March and a 23.4 percent decrease in shooting victims for the quarter. That is 50 less shooting victims so far this year alone, which means more lives are being saved.

 

And we are starting to see some promising statistics when we look at retail theft — which is down over 8 percent year to date. Retail theft hurts our businesses, our workers, our customers, and our quality of life. New Yorkers don’t feel like things are working when everything from toothpaste to laundry detergent is locked up. We have been clear: we will not let shoplifters and organized crime rings prey on New York City businesses.

 

Additionally, thanks to steps we have taken, traffic deaths have reached a historic low in the first quarter of 2025. Over the last three years, our administration has created a record 1.5 million square feet of new pedestrian space across the five boroughs; improved over 5,700 intersections, which has led to better visibility and drivers turning more slowly; installed 87.5 miles of protected bike lanes; and, because speeding is a factor in over a quarter of traffic deaths, we worked with lawmakers in Albany to keep our speed cameras operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We are also working with Albany to expand the use of cameras at red lights to deter drivers from running red lights instead of coming to a stop.

 

These measures also resulted in decreased traffic injuries this quarter and show forward progress toward our Vision Zero goals. We’ve seen declines in injuries across the board, with drops in injuries among pedestrians, cyclists, motorized two-wheeler riders, and motor vehicle occupants. Despite this progress, we know tragic traffic fatalities — like the recent crash that took the lives of three individuals, including two children, and left one child fighting for his life in hospital — still take place and we must continue to change driving behaviors.

 

We will not rest until all New Yorkers are safe: at home, on our transit system, and on our streets. Because of our steadfast focus on public safety, and the hard work of the brave men and women of the NYPD, New York City remains the safest big city in America, and we will continue to work tirelessly every day to keep protecting New Yorkers, their families, and our neighborhoods.