NYC Shootings Jumped 75% In February: NYPD

NEW YORK CITY — Shootings rose 75 percent in February across New York City while other crimes took a nosedive, according to the New York Police Department.

Newly released monthly crime statistics show that overall crime in the city dropped 26.5 percent in February this year compared with February 2020.

From robbery to grand larceny to murder, nearly every crime category saw a drop in February, according to the statistics.

But gun violence proved a significant exception. There were 77 shootings, compared with 44 in February last year, the statistics show.

“Gun violence coming out of last year and into this year continues to be something that we’re working very hard at,” Commissioner Dermot Shea said.

Shea appeared Thursday during Mayor Bill de Blasio’s daily briefing to tout the overall drop in crime and highlight efforts to curb gun violence.

He noted that gun arrests across the five boroughs remain at record highs — there were 400 gun arrests in February, or a 63.9 percent increase over the same month last year, according to the statistics.

Violence gripped New York City over much of 2020 — a crime wave that de Blasio repeatedly blamed on a "perfect storm" of disruptions from the coronavirus pandemic.

But perfect storm or no, the issue became a political cudgel. Now-former President Donald Trump blasted the violence before his administration declared the city an "anarchist jurisdiction."

And Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday, right before an addressing sexual harassment accusations against him, took a detour to declare the city is in a "very precarious situation."

"It's teetering, to use a word," he said.

De Blasio, who spent days blasting Cuomo, didn’t respond to the governor’s indirect attack. He instead left it to NYPD officials to outline their recent efforts to curb gun violence.

NYPD has deployed more than 200 cameras in areas where hate crimes were a concern, and will add 200 more as the city focuses on gun violence, said Matt Fraser, deputy commissioner of technology. He said ShotSpotter technology, which detects gunshots that often aren’t reported via 911, will expand by 12 square miles.

De Blasio reiterated that crime remained low in the city.

“We are the safest big city in American," he said. "We will continue to be.”