NEW YORK CITY, NY – The mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, claims that serious crime has declined since he took office. However, an analysis of the data from the New York Police Department (NYPD) by POLITICO tells a very different story, and while murders and shootings have fallen dramatically, overall crime has risen steadily during Adams’ tenure.
Total crime has increased every year under Adams, who is a former police captain who ran for mayor on a promise to curb lawlessness. According to the most recent year-end NYPD data, murder has declined by 22 percent and shootings by more than 40 percent since Adams took office on January 1, 2022.
However, every other type of crime the NYPD classifies as “major” is higher. The data shows that felony assaults rose by 20 percent, car thefts by 36 percent, and robberies by 20 percent from the end of 2021 to the end of 2024.
New Yorkers are taking notice and do not feel safe. Paul Reeping, director of research at the policy journal Vital City said in a statement, “People feel the small crimes. And when they build up over time, they are going to feel unsafe.” The mayor must now contend with an incongruent legacy as he seeks reelection this year.
Based off the data, though, he can claim some wins. Shootings and transit crimes reached record lows during the first quarter of this year, and murders continue to decline to near record lows. Police also recorded fewer instances of burglary, robbery, and theft, including stolen vehicles over the last year. The increase in overall crime while it has not declined, it is starting to slow.
Adams continually states that he inherited a city experiencing a pandemic-era uptick in lawlessness, mirroring a nationwide trend. However, the data reviewed by POLITICO paints a picture of a city that is not quite as safe as it was before COVID or when Adams took office two years later.
At a recent briefing he said, “We know our success in numbers must match the success in how people are feeling. And part of that is we’re asking all of you out there and in the media: Let’s not find the worst thing that happens in our city in the day and make it seem like it defines out city. Let’s highlight how well we have turned the city around.”
Adams, who campaigned almost entirely on reducing crime in 2021, has burned through three police commissioners who either quit or were pushed out. His fourth, Jessica Tisch, has instituted dramatic leadership changes, presided over some improved crime statistics, and launched a quality-of-life division focused on low-level offenses.
Adams has touted trends that have been going his way and blamed headlines about subway slashings and broad-daylight slayings for sowing fear across the five boroughs. The analysis of the NYPD data by POLITICO shows an increase in “non-major” crimes as well has the rise in the seven major crime categories.
Included in that broad category are “non-major” felonies like possession of a weapon, stolen property, and illicit drugs. Virtually every one of these rose during Adams’ tenure. Violations, a classification that accounts for harassment and disorderly conduct, showed a similar trend as did misdemeanors like sexual misconduct and theft.
In particular, felony and misdemeanor assaults have steadily risen to levels not seen since 1998. These attacks have increasingly come at the hands of strangers, who perpetrated around 40 percent of felony assaults in 2024. City Hall defended the administrations progress saying, “Since taking office, Mayor Adams has made sure that we use every tool in out toolbox to keep New Yorkers safe, and the results speak for themselves.”
When referring to major felonies, spokesperson Kayla Mamelak Altus said, “Overall crime citywide was down last year and is down by double digits year-to-date.”
