Major felonies, shootings and overall crimes in the transit system dropped in February 2024, according to NYPD statistics released Tuesday afternoon.
The department reported a 1.1% decrease in major felonies month-over-month between February 2023 and February 2024. Murders decreased by 22.2%, with 21 homicides reported last month, down from 27 tallied at the same period in 2023.
Shootings continue to drop citywide, the NYPD reported, with just 53 incidents of gun violence during the month, 10 fewer than in February 2023. There were also fewer shooting victims, with 65 recorded last month, down from 81.
Transit crime had surged in January, but seemed to tail off last month, according to the NYPD. The 148 incidents recorded in the transit system last month were 15.4% fewer than the 175 tallied in February 2023, and far below the 201 major crimes in transit recorded between Jan. 1-28, 2024.
Following several homicides in the subway system, the NYPD surged more officers into transit — to the tune of up to 1,000 officers per day. The effort seems to have paid off in many ways; for example, pickpocketing — one of the biggest drivers of transit crime — plummeted by 28.6% in February, with 70 incidents reported.
Police Commissioner Edward Caban noted the importance of battling transit crime in announcing the February crime numbers Tuesday.
“We see our subway stations and trains as not just necessary means of rapid transit, but as neighborhoods unto themselves,” said Police Commissioner Edward A. Caban. “And it is easy to understand why: In each station, on each platform, in each train car – people are going to work, to school, to home, or to tourist destinations. They are the people who make New York City great by keeping us all connected, one ride at a time.”
During February, the NYPD reported a 13% decrease in grand larceny auto (967 incidents, compared to 1,111 in February 2023), along with a 6.2% drop in burglaries (1,017 incidents, compared to 1,084 break-ins in February 2023). Grand larcenies were down slightly, with 3,608 incidents recorded, 12 fewer than the 3,620 tallied the year prior.
Robberies and felony assaults, however, ticked upward in 2024. The NYPD recorded 1,222 robberies, a 4.8% increase from February 2023; and 1,968 felony assaults, up 3.6% from the previous year.
Notably, hate crimes were up again in February, though the increase was minimal; 28 hate crimes were reported last month, one more than the total tallied in February 2023.
More than half of the 28 hate crimes reported last month involved Jewish victims (17 in all). Antisemitic hate crimes have been up every month since the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attacks by Hamas upon Israel.
February’s total number of antisemitic hate crimes represented a 31% increase from the 13 incidents tallied at the same month last year.
The NYPD also reported 116 rapes during February 2024, three more than the total announced the year prior. Approximately 75 of the 116 incidents had occurred this year; the others took place in prior years.
Rape remains an underreported crime, according to the department; anyone who was a victim of a sexual assault is urged to speak with the NYPD Special Victims Division by calling 212-267-RAPE.
