NYC Shootings Dropped 30% In May, But Other Crimes Rose: NYPD

NEW YORK CITY — The sound of gunfire became slightly less deafening across New York City in May, but still remained high, according to newly released crime statistics.

Shootings dropped 31.4 percent last month as concerns over gun violence continued to grip the city, state and nation, NYPD data shows.

Mayor Eric Adams touted the shooting dip during a Monday event, although he breezed past the statistics showing overall index crime — which includes murders, rape and robberies — was up 27.8 percent compared to May 2021.

"The charts are not lying," he said, referring to NYPD efforts to drive down gun crime.

But despite the decrease year-over-year, there were still 118 shooting incidents last month, according to data.

The number is better than the 172 reported the same month last year, but is a far cry from May 2019, when NYPD officials proudly declared in a release: "City Achieves New Record-Low May in Muder and Shooting Incident Categories."

For the record, there were 61 recorded shooting incidents in May 2019.

The statistics reflect the sharp citywide increase in shootings and other gun violence during the coronavirus pandemic.

Former mayor Bill de Blasio was apt to pin the increase on a "perfect storm" of societal disruptions wrought by the pandemic. His successor — Adams — has variously laid blame rivers of guns feeding a "sea of violence" in New York City, the "drill" rap genre or a sense of general disorder in the city.

He has also blasted bail reform laws, despite advocates' fears his proposed changes will lead to discriminatory practices. State lawmakers this session — which closed last week — failed to act on his preferred tweaks, especially those allowing judges to factor in "dangerousness" when setting bail or not.

"We made some victories in Albany around public safety, we would have liked to receive more ... I’m hoping they reexamine that in the next legislative cycle," he said Monday.

Also on Monday, Adams argued his controversial "Neighborhood Safety Teams" made a difference in the shooting drop.

Likewise, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell argued that pointing "every resource" at reducing gun violence made a difference

"We have seen seven straight weeks of shootings going down – and that is not a coincidence,” she said in a statement. “We are using an intelligence-led approach and gun arrests are being made in numbers we haven’t seen in almost 30 years, but we understand that we have to be relentless because lives depend on it.”

The May crime statistics show that murder, rape and robbery increased by roughly 10 percent, 38 percent and 26.2 percent, respectively, compared to the same month last year.

Transit crimes rose by 28 percent as well, according to the data.

Patch reporter Anna Quinn contributed to this report.