Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani: Good morning, everyone. It is a pleasure to be here with you at 1 Police Plaza and to be joined by so many committed public servants. Thank you to Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch for your leadership and your partnership. I also want to extend my gratitude to Chief of Department Mike LiPetri and the members of the NYPD executive staff. Before I speak about the crime statistics released today, I want to first take a moment to mourn the devastating shooting in South Williamsburg yesterday, where a 7-month-old child being pushed in her stroller was fatally struck by gunfire. Thank you to the NYPD officers and first responders who arrived on the scene so quickly and for their tireless work to deliver justice and provide answers for the grieving family and our entire city.
My heart aches for the parents impacted by this tragedy and all those across New York City who have reckoned with such unthinkable pain. Every single child in this city deserves to grow up free from the threat of gun violence. Every parent in this city deserves the peace of mind that comes from knowing that their children are safe when they leave home. And I know that the heinous killing of Detective Diller also weighs heavily today. Many in this room knew him well. His loss still feels unfathomable. I am grateful for his service, and my heart is with his loved ones.
As we gather together to share the immense progress we have achieved over the past three months in our city, let these tragedies serve as a reminder of all that we still have to do to make our city even safer so that no family must reckon with such an immense sorrow. The data we are releasing today should be encouraging to every New Yorker. The numbers tell a clear, indisputable story: our approach to public safety is working. Crime continues to decrease in New York City.
In the first three months of the year, New York City has recorded the fewest murders and shooting incidents since we began tracking these numbers, decades ago. This quarter, we saw 54 murders across the five boroughs, a drop from the previous record low of 60, set in 2018. When you compare these figures to last year, which had already set historic lows for gun violence, murders fell by a significant 28 percent. Year-to-date, the murder rate is down by more than 57 percent in Brooklyn, [and] more than 44 percent in Manhattan, and there have been no murders on Staten Island in 2026. In fact, it has now been 178 days since the last murder on Staten Island, the second-longest period in recorded history.
Additionally, overall crime in public housing fell 7.2 percent year-to-date and reached record lows for murders, shooting incidents, shooting victims and robberies. None of that is accidental. It is a direct result of the hard work and commitment of so many in this room. Since January 1st, the NYPD has taken more than 1,000 guns off of our streets. Each one of those guns represents a block that is safer for families to walk down and for children to play on. The stories of these numbers in aggregate [are] one of remarkable progress. They speak to an NYPD using every lever at its disposal to deliver a safer New York City to all who call it home. There is always more work to be done, as we can see in the 11.7 percent rise in hate crimes across our city, with the largest increase being of anti-Muslim hate crimes, a 140 percent increase, as antisemitic hate crimes continue to comprise more than half of the total number.
Major crime is down in nearly every category, however, across our five boroughs. The Bronx leads the city in overall major crime declines, with a 9.4 percent decrease. And I want to thank every member of the NYPD for all that they do to keep every corner of our city safe from violence. Now I've just recited many numbers and percentages, and while Commissioner Tisch will expand on these numbers and how they came to be, I want to put today's data into a little more context. Each of these numbers paints a picture of a safer, more welcoming city for our fellow New Yorkers. And they tell a story that statistics can never fully capture. Countless subway rides, evening walks, and trips to the park that ended exactly as they should have, boringly, without incidents.
In that way, it is actually difficult to tell the true story of the enormous impact of today's data. A pleasant stroll down the block does not make headlines. A grocery trip that ends with a full refrigerator does not register as remarkable, and neither should it. And yet, each of us knows that the work that the NYPD does matters more than headlines. It is felt in dining room tables without an empty seat, playgrounds full of children, [and] lives free from the dark cloud of grief. As we build on this progress, we do so with the knowledge that there is always more to be done and that this work is inherently unfinished.
We can always make our city safer. If yesterday's tragedy is a reminder of anything, it is that even a singular act of violence represents a universe shattered. Lives [are] permanently altered in this place that we call our home. As we work hand-in-hand to deliver a New York City that is safe and welcoming, we all have a role to play. Those of us in City Hall, those of us who walk the beat or work from One Police Plaza, every person who looks after their neighbors and their community. We're on the right track together, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to a city where every New Yorker is safe every day. Thank you, and with that, I will pass it over to our police commissioner, Jessica Tisch.
Police Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch: Thank you, mayor, and good afternoon. Before we begin, I want to address yesterday's verdict in the murder of Detective Jonathan Diller. Two years ago, Jonathan was killed in the line of duty while doing what he had chosen to do — protecting the city. He stepped toward danger without hesitation, and he did it as part of a life that was defined by service. I am deeply disappointed that the top murder charge did not result in a conviction. Based on all of the evidence presented at trial, I am convinced that this was an act of intentional murder. The failure to convict on murder one landed like a gut punch to all members of the NYPD.
The defendant was convicted on all other counts, and we expect the sentence in this case to reflect the gravity of what was done and the loss that it caused. Jonathan's life, his service and his legacy will remain a part of this [Police] Department carried forward by the men and women of the NYPD. May his memory continue to be a blessing.
I also want to address the tragedy that happened yesterday in Williamsburg. A 7-month-old child was shot and killed, caught in an act of violence on a sidewalk where she should have been safe. I want to provide an update now on this investigation. A 21-year-old male, Amari Green, the trigger puller, who is currently in the hospital, will be arrested and charged with murder and two counts of attempted murder. We have also identified the driver of the scooter, but I will not be releasing his name at this time.
Today, we are talking about stats, but this incident is a reminder that these numbers represent lives. And as proud as we are of our officers' work to drive down crime, especially gun violence, moments like this deepen our resolve to do everything that we can to stop this from happening again. That is the work, and we are going to keep doing it with the focus and the sense of responsibility that a moment like [these] demands.
Three months into 2026, we are building on the historic progress that we saw last year and continuing to drive crime down across New York City. Here are some of our top lines. Through the first quarter of the year, murders are at their lowest levels ever. Major crime is down across all five boroughs, with the Bronx leading the way, down 9.4 percent. And we've matched last year's record low level for shooting incidents. 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.
Most importantly, this is a direct result of the men and women of this department taking this strategy and turning it into action on the ground. I want to thank Mayor Mamdani for joining us here today and for his partnership in supporting the work that we are doing to keep this city safe.
Now let's get into the numbers, starting with shootings. Last year, New York City recorded the lowest levels of gun violence in its history. For the first quarter this year, we have matched that record low, ending the first quarter with 139 shooting incidents. We have also matched last year's shooting victims with 163 people shot in the first quarter of 2026. Major crime in Q1 is down 5 percent, falling in all five boroughs, with Manhattan down 7 percent, Staten Island down 5 percent, Queens down more than 2 percent, Brooklyn down 1 percent, and the Bronx down more than 9 percent. Let me repeat that. Major crime in the Bronx is down more than 9 percent in the first quarter.
How did we do that? 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. As I mentioned earlier, murder fell to its lowest level in recorded history, down 28 percent citywide year-to-date in the first quarter. That is 21 fewer people murdered compared to the same period last year. That citywide decline was driven by significant reductions across our boroughs. In Brooklyn, murder is down more than 57 percent, and in Manhattan it is down more than 44 percent. In Queens, murder declined nearly 6 percent. Through the first three months of the year, there have been zero murders, as the mayor mentioned, in Staten Island and in the Bronx. There were two more murders this year than in 2025.
Robberies declined nearly 8 percent across the city in the first quarter, with decreases in four of five boroughs. In Q1, burglaries fell 21 percent citywide, bringing us to the second lowest level in recorded history. Residential burglaries are also down nearly 20 percent, reaching record lows. These numbers were driven by our precision task force approach, with patrol officers, detectives, intel and crime analysts and specialized units all sitting in the same room working the same problem with the same information. Citywide grand larceny declined nearly four percent, continuing the downward trend that we saw last year. Auto theft fell nearly 4 percent, a shift for a crime that's been one of the city's most challenging in recent years.
This is the first year since 2021 that felony assaults have declined to start the year, with 44 fewer incidents than the same period in 2025. The only crime category that we did see an increase in is rape, which were up 10 percent citywide compared to last year. As you know, the state law changed in September of 2024, which rightfully broadened the legal definition of rape to capture the full range of these crimes. And since that time, we have enhanced our partnerships with survivor advocates and partner agencies to help survivors come forward and report these crimes. The reductions that we saw in major crime also extended into our transit system. Last year was the safest year on our subways since 2009, outside of the pandemic era. This year, we have sustained that progress, ending quarter one down approximately one percent compared to last year.
Some of the most significant declines that we saw in the first quarter are in public housing. Overall, housing crime fell seven percent. Murders within these developments are down 63 percent, reaching their lowest level in recorded history. Shooting incidents and shooting victims in public housing are also at their lowest levels in recorded history, down 30 percent and 28 percent, respectively. And robberies in housing are down more than 27 percent, also reaching their lowest levels. These developments have long seen some of the highest levels of violence, and we've surged police resources to them as part of our precision policing strategy to drive these numbers down.
Retail theft is a recidivist-driven crime that spiked in the early 2020s, affecting both New Yorkers and retailers across the city. From everyday items like toothpaste and deodorant locked behind cases to small businesses struggling to stay open, last year, we applied a data-driven precision approach, identifying patterns, concentrating resources at high-propensity locations, and shifting from pass-through enforcement to sustained investigations. The result was a 14 percent reduction in 2025. And this year, we have doubled down and retail theft is down 20 percent citywide in the first quarter compared to last year, with double-digit declines in all five boroughs.
We are continuing to take a focused approach to youth violence, adjusting our strategy with school safety agents and increasing deployments in and around schools. As a result, school-related enforcement is down six percent, and school-related crime is also down six percent for the school year. On top of that, we've implemented youth safety zones, modeled after our violence reduction zones but designed specifically to keep kids safe on their way to and from school. These youth zones focus on the places where young people are most likely to fall victim to a crime — commuter corridors, bus stops and the routes students take to and from school — and we are seeing real results.
Since implementation, major crime within our youth zones is down roughly 55 percent, with robberies down more than 60 percent and felony assault down nearly 50 percent during our deployment hours. Most importantly, shootings are down 56 percent and shooting victims are down nearly 55 percent in our youth zones during deployments. In our Bronx Youth Zone in particular, where this issue is most concentrated, the impact is even more pronounced, with shootings down nearly 75 percent. In Brooklyn North, shootings were also down more than 40 percent.
Now switching to hate crimes. Confirmed hate crimes increased nearly 12 percent this quarter citywide. We continue to see that the vast majority of our hate crimes are antisemitic in nature. In fact, in the first quarter of 2026, more than half of all confirmed hate crimes, or 55 percent, were antisemitic, despite Jews only making up approximately 10 percent of the population of New York City. These cases are investigated by the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force, which determines whether an incident meets the legal standard for hate crime under New York state law. As of today, and for the first time, our monthly hate crime data will include two clear, accurate sets of numbers.
Reported hate crimes, those flagged for investigation by the task force and confirmed hate crimes as determined by the task force. That is the gold standard for reporting on hate crimes, and that is what we are going to do going forward. This will ensure that the public has an accurate and timely and more robust view than ever of hate crime activity in New York City. The change that was made in February was intended to fix how we were previously reporting hate crimes. Given the inaccuracy of the previous reporting on reported hate crimes, I had decided to stop presenting data that way. This was a decision that I made on my own, not in consultation with the mayor.
As you can see, we are continuing to drive crime across the city down by focusing on the people driving violence and the places where it is happening. That means putting officers in the areas carrying the heaviest burden, building cases against the people responsible, and staying with those problems until they are resolved. You can see it in the Bronx. You can see it in public housing. You can see it in the continued decline in shootings. This is what it looks like when the work is focused and carried through, and it's what we are going to keep doing. I want to thank and congratulate the men and women of the New York City Police Department for their continued efforts to drive down crime.
Chief Michael J. LiPetri, Chief of Department, Police Department: Good afternoon. I just want to expand on some of the data that the mayor and the police commissioner talked about. I'm going to focus on the youth zones and the violence reduction zones that we implemented. The youth zones since September, obviously, upon school year, and the winter zones towards the beginning of the new year. When we talk about what goes on in those zones, a lot of times we just talk about foot patrols. Well, that's part of it, and I think this is the best example. When you look at gun arrests within those zones during deployment hours, the winter zones, we have over 100 gun arrests in those zones.
And when you look at who's making those gun arrests, it's everything that we thought we would see. It's our narcotics detectives. It's our precinct detectives. It's our Q team offices. It's our NST offices. It's our patrol offices. And what I'm most proud of, a quarter of those arrests are new training offices with less than one year as a New York City Police Department, a quarter of those arrests. And I go back to March 21st, where across the city, in one borough in Queens and another borough in the Bronx, basically at the same time, there was 911 calls within those zones for individuals either menacing somebody with a firearm or shots fired. Because of the deployment, the FTO offices responded quickly and apprehended two individuals at both locations with loaded firearms.
I just want to touch on the domestic violence aspect that we've changed since last year and the positives that we're seeing. We were at a 25-year high in both felony and misdemeanor domestic violence complaints of either making an arrest or identifying an offender within three days. That's the important part — within three days, a 25-year high. Why is the three days important? Because we know through experience and data, as those cases go longer, the complainants unfortunately become less cooperative. And that's where we're focused. We're focused on restructuring and streamlining our domestic violence program. And again, I just want to say thank you to the mayor, to the police commissioner, the executive staff, and all the men and women out there every single day. My last point. We talk about 100 gun arrests, it's dangerous work. That's exactly what Officer Diller was doing in Far Rockaway when he was intentionally murdered. Thank you.
Question: Just wondering if you could tell us anything more about Amari Green's criminal history. And I know Chief Kenny said yesterday that there might have been a possible gang associate with the Marcy Houses. Anything on that? And anything more on what might have prompted the shooting?
Chief Joseph Kenny, Chief of Detectives, Police Department: So, Amari Green has no arrest history in New York City. We know that he is a gang associate out of the Marcy Houses. And at this point right now, there is a gang in the Bushwick Houses called M.O.E., and we're looking to see the possible connection between the Marcy Houses, Bushwick Houses — meaning the gang M.O.E. We're still looking into that. We know that he does have an association with some other M.O.E. gang members. He is not in our criminal group database as an M.O.E. gang member. But based on the geography and where he was at that time, we're looking into that aspect.
Question: Mr. Mayor, given the anti-Muslim and antisemitic rise in those [crime] incidents, what kind of messaging do you want to put forth and go forward with to bring that down, prevent it? What do you want to say to the city?
Mayor Mamdani: This is a city where everyone who lives here should know that they belong across these five boroughs. There is 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 is the case for all.
Question: Are crime stats down in part because the Rikers population of repeat offenders are up? This is crime stats, and D.A. Bragg has said his office's review of policies and bail procedures — he has said his office does not believe this is crime stats. This is why crime stats may be down. Is Rikers one of the reasons? And the D.A. is saying he does not believe his office is unfairly detaining anyone. So how do we balance conditions at Rikers, the population there, with the decrease in crime that we're seeing?
Commissioner Tisch: I think I gave a good 15-minute discussion of both the crime figures and the reasons that I believe crime is down — namely the men and women of the New York City Police Department executing our precision policing strategy extremely well. It is the case, as it's been reported, that the Rikers population is up and crime is down. But I like to focus on the precision policing strategy, the deployments of our officers, the gun arrests that they're making as the things that are driving the results that we're seeing.
Question: How many of the shootings thus far this year are linked to gang tensions? How many of those are in retaliation for a prior shooting? And then I guess for the commissioner, what is being done today and in subsequent days in Brooklyn, to prevent a retaliation for yesterday's shooting?
Chief LiPetri: So, about 60 percent of our shootings this year have a crew nexus. That will only increase as investigations move forward. Usually every year it's about 60 percent, but we feel also that it is higher, probably about 70 percent of our shootings citywide have a gang or crew nexus. When it comes to retaliation, a lot of the retaliation — well, most of the retaliation — is part of that crew nexus, but if you want to just go straight retaliation, it's approximately 10 percent.
Commissioner Tisch: So, every morning, first thing in my conference room, we discuss — all the chiefs and I discuss 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. And so that is just a fluid thing that we do as part of our standard operating procedure every day.
Question: Two questions. Can you elaborate more on the subway crime? Because I know it was teetering. It was up [and] it was down. It was attributable to robberies being up but also assaults — still that's a stubborn number that is up. Maybe you could get into detail about how you're going about fighting that.
Commissioner Tisch: I believe that in January and February, we did see an uptick in crime on our subways. I believe that an insignificant portion of that was related to adjustments that we made in our ejection strategy, based on the Code Blue, based on the cold temperatures that we are seeing. We ended the quarter down actually 1 percent in subway crime.
So, we had a very good month of March, where we basically saw a crime fall in all categories in transit. And again, once the weather [normalized]out a bit and we could go back to our normal full ejection strategy in transit. We also added like 150 officers to transit at the end of February. And those officers I think also made a very real impact on crime fighting there.
Question: The second question was, are you using the gang database at all in this investigation into the death of [inaudible]?
Commissioner Tisch: So, we do not use the gang database to determine probable cause for anyone. But we use the gang database for things like deployments. So, I just had a question on retaliation. Are we going to set up for retaliation? Yes, we will look at the gang database, and that will help our deployments to prevent things like retaliatory shootings.
Question: Can you talk more about the nature of these hate crimes? What is happening? Is it more violent? We saw an incident obviously last week where a Palestinian activist was targeted in a terror case. What are you seeing in terms of hate crime trends, and is it worse now than it's sort of ever been?
Commissioner Tisch: So, the hate crimes that we are seeing are really, like, very across the board. It could be something — an act of violence. It could be drawing a symbol on a wall, like, for example, a swastika. So, I don't want to characterize them in that way. What I can tell you is that the NYPD has released this month, the gold standard for data about hate crimes. We've done this in consultation with experts in the field. And that is data about reported crimes and data about confirmed crimes.
And so now everyone has access to both pieces of information, and that will continue into the future. I want to make sure that we are incredibly transparent about data because data is power, and I also don't want to continue or perpetuate the practice of releasing bad data that doesn't help draw meaningful conclusions.
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