The violent crime surge that shook the city for three years appears to be subsiding, with continued drops in murders and shootings and dips in shoplifting and subway crime. But many New Yorkers still don’t feel safe.
Gabriel Vargas, a 65-year-old handyman visiting Joyce Kilmer Park near Yankee Stadium last week, no longer goes out after dark.
“I come home from work, I walk my dog, then I go back in,” he said. “And that’s it. After 7, after 8 you have to stay home.”
Alexander Choo, a 21-year-old Hunter College psychology student, has his subway commute down pat: Get on the train, keep to yourself, then get off as soon as possible.
“I have not witnessed any fatal crimes on the trains,” said Choo. “But you learn not to look at people, mind your business, and that kind of helps avoid crimes on the subway.
And in East New York, Kim Greenaway, 45, is still shaking from the shooting death Wednesday evening of a 40-year-old man on nearby Ashford St.
“He got shot in the head and nobody came,” she said.
“You didn’t hear no one screaming, ‘That’s my brother!’ or ‘That’s my dad!’ He was just lying there. It started to rain and they had the sheet over him. It doesn’t matter the time, day or night, no one cares. They don’t care who is outside or if you’re with your mama. I honestly have thoughts about leaving New York.”
Halfway through the year, there are plenty of good signs for the NYPD.
Through June 25, the 193 murders citywide this year are 8% fewer than the 209 by this time last year. There has also been a sharp drop in shootings, with 27% fewer victims, 542 this year compared to 729 at this point last year.
Even petty larcenies, a bulk of which are for shoplifting, a crime that exploded in 2021, have dropped this year, though just by 2%. Subway crime is down 5%.
The overall major crime rate, based on seven crime categories, including murder, rape and robbery, is up 1% so far this year compared to last. That follows a year that ended…
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