New York City recorded a drop in most major crimes during the month of April, but hate crimes saw a 39% increase, NYPD data released Tuesday shows.

The city’s overall crime index dropped by 4.9% last month compared to April 2023, with significant drops in murder, burglary, auto theft and grand larceny, the NYPD said.

What You Need To Know

  • The city’s overall crime index dropped by 4.9% last month compared to April 2023

  • Shooting incidents decreased by 15.5% and transit-related crimes dropped by 23%

  • The city saw a 39% jump in hate crimes year over year, from 46 to 64, primarily driven by anti-Jewish incidents

  • Anti-Muslim incidents also doubled in April, going from three incidents last year to six this year

Citywide, the NYPD recorded a 30.3% decline in murders year over year, from 33 to 23; a 10.6% drop in burglary incidents, from 1,122 to 1,003; a 10.9% drop in auto thefts, from 1,273 to 1,134; and a 6.9% drop in grand larcenies, from 4,051 to 3,772.

Meanwhile, shooting incidents decreased by 15.5%, from 71 in April 2023 to 60 last month, and transit-related crimes dropped by 23%, from 174 to 134 reported incidents.

In a release, the NYPD attributed the drops to “the thousands of additional uniformed police officers flooded into the subway system and onto street corners in shooting-prone locations every day around the city.”

Data did show there was a 7.2% increase in robbery incidents year over year — from 1,237 incidents last April to 1,326 incidents last month — as well as a 5.1% increase in reported rapes, from 118 to 124.

The city also saw a 39% jump in hate crimes year over year, from 46 to 64, primarily driven by anti-Jewish incidents, according to the data. Last month, the NYPD logged 32 anti-Jewish incidents, up from 16 in April of last year.

The department noted that anti-Muslim incidents also doubled in April, going from three incidents last year to six this year.

In its release, the NYPD alluded to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, saying the increase in reported hate crimes was “not unrelated to current geopolitics.”

Outside of arrests made at protests related to the war — police arrested nearly 300 people during pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University and the City College of New York on April 30 — the NYPD said “enforcement efforts” led to 227 more arrests for major crimes year over year in April, marking a 5.4% increase.