A major milestone occurred in New York City: the first quarter of 2026 recorded the lowest number of murders and shootings in the city’s history.

New NYPD data released Thursday shows major crime has fallen across all five boroughs, a shift top cops are calling turning point for public safety.

"These results are not happening by chance. They are driven by a precision policing strategy going after the guns, taking down the violent gangs and putting officers on foot posts where they are needed most and when they are needed most," said NYC Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

In the first three months of 2026, the NYPD reported 54 murders in the city - the last time the city saw numbers this low was in 2018 when 60 people were murdered.

As for shootings, 139 incidents have been reported in the first quarter, in-line with data reported in 2025, which the NYPD calls the safest year in city recorded history for gun violence.

Overall crime in public housing fell by 7.2% year to date, reaching record lows for murders, shooting incidents, shooting victims and robberies. Roughly 1,000 guns have also been taken off the streets.

Tisch says the NYPD's "Winter Violence Reduction Plan" deploys up to 1,800 officers on nightly foot patrols across 64 zones identified as 'hot spots' across 34 precincts, public housing and subway systems. In those zones, major crime is down by 23.2% and shooting are down 63.6% during deployment times.

As for the subways, 2025 was reported to be the safest in the system since 2009, outside of the pandemic, with overall subway crime down 1.3%, grand larceny down 9.1% and felony assault down 6.6%.

The Bronx leads the city with a drop of 9.4% in major crime.

"We identified the communities historically plagued by violent crime and deployed an unprecedented number of cops to our violence reduction zones. These are the places that have been hardest hit, and now we are seeing tremendous progress," said Tisch.

There is an area for concern when it comes to hate crimes, since the start of this year hate-crimes are up nearly 12% with antisemitic crimes accounting for more than half of hate crimes reported. Anti-Muslim crimes are also skyrocketing, up by 140%.

"There's no person of any faith that should ever be made to feel as if this is not their home, that this is not a place where they can be safe, and frankly, we are looking to build a city where the threshold is not simply safety. We want this to be a city where New Yorkers are cherished. Where they are celebrated and we know that that is the case for many and still there is so much more work to be done to ensure that this the case for all," said Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Rape incidents are also up just over 10%, the NYPD says the rise has to do with a broader legal definition of rape that was adopted in 2024, and increased efforts to encourage survivors to report.

Chief of Department, Michael J. LiPetri, says about 60% of shootings citywide this year are gang related, although after investigations he believes that number is closer to 70%. Retaliatory shootings account for approximately 10%, according to LiPetri.

The crime report comes a day after a seven-month-old baby was shot and killed in Brooklyn on Wednesday in what is being investigated as a gang related incident.

"Every morning, first thing in my conference room we discuss, all the chiefs and I, discuss all the shootings that occurred the day before and they discuss how they are going to redeploy their resources based on any potential threats of retaliation, that is a fluid thing we do as part of our standard operating procedure every day," said Commissioner Tisch.