NYC Homicides on Track for Deadliest Year in Decade

NYPD officers respond to the scene of a shooting that left multiple people injured in the Flatbush neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough in New York City on April 6, 2021. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

There were 479 people murdered in New York City so far in 2021, the most since 2011 and part of a violent upsurge plaguing the city since last year. Along with the murder count, shootings have been the highest since 2003 and felony assaults the highest since 2001, according to data from the New York City Police Department (NYPD).

Meanwhile, arrests dropped by nearly a third this year by the end of September compared to the same period in 2019. In 2020, arrests were even lower, NYPD data show.