Major Crime In NYC Dropped To Lowest Level Of 'Modern Era' In September, City Says

LOWER EAST SIDE — September was the safest month in modern history in New York City with major crimes such as murder, rape and robbery hitting record lows, the NYPD announced Tuesday.

So far this year, the city has experienced a 5.9 percent drop in the numbers since this time in 2016, police and city officials said, attributing the drop partly to the NYPD's neighborhood policing and better training.

The city saw 78 shootings last month — the least for any September on record — down from 100 in September 2016, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. And the number of murders last month fell to 20 from 35 in 2016, a 42.9 percent drop, said the NYPD's head of crime control strategies Chief Dermot Shea.

None of those murders happened in city housing projects, Shea said. The NYPD's Housing Bureau, which patrols the complexes, reported a modest 1.7 percent uptick in crime last month, but it's seen crime drop 6.4 percent since January, Shea said.

"We can no longer assume that there's any part of this city that we can't turn around," de Blasio said, flanked by top NYPD brass at a news conference in the East Village. "We refuse the notion that safety is just for the privileged few. It's for everyone."

(For more on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Six of the seven most serious crimes – murder, robbery, felony assaults, burglary, grand larceny and grand larceny auto – dropped last month. The record low number of shootings in 2016 is "going to be shattered" this year, with 184 fewer reported in the first nine months, said Shea.

Only rape increased last month, with 117 cases compared to 113 by September last year.

The number of major crimes committed is the lowest recorded since the city adopted the Compstat system of recording statistics in 1995, the NYPD said.

The city has seen 203 murders this year as of Sept. 30, 53 fewer than the same period last year, Shea said.

Officials said community policing helps push crime down citywide, especially in housing projects, a trend de Blasio said he expects to continue. The NYPD since 2015 has stationed cops within the bounds of existing neighborhoods, allowing residents to form better relationships with the officers who respond, officials said.

"While in individual precincts there might be ups and downs, because we're talking about very low numbers here, that doesn't take away from the fact that this is about building relationships and building trust," Police Commissioner James O'Neill said.

"The safest big city in America just beat its own record witht eh safest September in the modern era," said de Blasio.

(Lead image by Noah Manskar)