New York City's Most Dangerous Year of Crime Compared to 2022: Analysis

As New York City has seen a rise in crime over the past year, an analysis of crime data shows that the city has seen far less violent crimes compared to 1990, when the city had its most reported murders on record.

In a recent press release, the New York Police Department (NYPD) said that while the number of overall shooting incidents decreased in September compared to the same month last year, the "overall index crime in New York City increased in September 2022, by 15.2% compared with September 2021 (11,057 v. 9,596)."

"Five of the seven major index-crime categories saw increases, driven by a 22.7% increase in burglary (1,409 v. 1,148), a 21.5% increase in grand larceny auto (1,215 v. 1,000), and a 21.3% increase in grand larceny (4,552 v. 3,753)," the press release said.

In comparison, a Newsweek analysis of NYPD crime data shows that this year's number of crimes is down from 1990. A spokesperson for the NYPD confirmed to Newsweek on Monday that in 1990 the city saw the most reported homicides on record, with 2,245.

According to NYPD crime stat data, in 1990, there was a total of 527,257 crime complaints. In addition to the number of murders confirmed to Newsweek, the data also shows that there were over 3,000 rape incidents, 100,280 robberies, 44,122 felony assaults and over 100,000 burglary and grand larceny incidents in 1990.

Over the past year, there have been 95,273 crimes reported to the NYPD, including 327 murders, 1,249 rapes, 13,182 robberies, 19,819 felony assaults, 11,825 burglaries, 38,732 grand larceny incidents and 10,139 grand larceny auto incidents.

In the recent press release, NYPD Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell said, "One crime victim is one victim too many, and the hardworking women and men of the NYPD are committed to ensuring that no one—in any New York City neighborhood—is harmed by violence or disorder."

"Most importantly, we must shatter the perception among criminals that there are no consequences for violent crime, and realign our system to center on those who matter most: crime victims. At the NYPD, we will never stop delivering on our public-safety promise, and we need every sector of our society to make the same pledge to see that promise fully realized," Sewell added.

Despite the number of crimes in 2022 so far being lower than in 1990, former New York Governor David Paterson recently said that he's "never felt as unsafe" as he does now walking around New York City.

"For the first time in my life, even in the late '80s and '90s when the crime rate was killing 2,000 people a year, I never felt as unsafe as I do now just walking around," Paterson told the WABC radio show The Cats Roundtable on Sunday.