Since day one, public safety has been our administration’s North Star. Our primary mission has been to create safer streets, safer subways, and a safer city for all New York families. Part of our strategy has been to zero in on removing illegal guns from our streets and out of the hands of criminals before they can cause more harm.
The numbers are in, and since the start of this year, the NYPD has already helped us take more than 1,000 illegal guns off the streets. That is 1,000 weapons that no longer threaten the safety of our neighborhoods, our families, or our children. And those 1,000 guns take the total number of illegal guns taken off city streets since we came into office to a staggering 20,700.
The removal of these illegal guns has driven year-to-date shootings down by 14.5 percent compared to 2024 and to the lowest point in our city’s history, saving countless lives. In fact, for three years in a row, the number of shootings and homicides across our city have both substantially declined. Getting illegal guns and reducing homicides off our streets and out of our cities is critical to protecting our kids, our communities, and our future.
Additionally, transit crime is down 27.9 percent year-to-date, following a significant deployment of officers to city subway platforms and trains, including on overnight shifts. And crime in New York City public housing developments is also down 12.7 percent since the start of the year.
These remarkable results have been driven by the use of zone-based policing, including deploying officers to hot-spot locations experiencing spikes in crime and additions to our Subway Safety Plan, first implemented in February 2022.
We are going to continue NYPD foot patrols in high-crime areas, both above ground and throughout our transit system. But we know that ending gun violence requires more than enforcement. It requires attention and investment. We are going to ensure that young people have safe places away from gun violence to play by opening more playgrounds and community centers. And we are going to continue to invest in the safety of our schools, our streets, and our subways.
All of this work has led to the third consecutive month of double-digit decreases in overall crime, with the city experiencing reductions in six of the seven major crime categories. And since we came into office three years ago, shootings and homicides are substantially down — 42.2 percent and 22.7 percent, respectively.
Plus, thanks to our Neighborhood Safety Teams, Public Safety Teams, and Community Response Teams that have been deployed in targeted areas, New Yorkers don’t just see the numbers going down — they can feel the difference, too.
It is clear: Our public safety strategy is working.
But we will not rest on these achievements. Our priority remains the same: keep New Yorkers safe and continue to address gun violence and illegal firearms. We will keep pressing for more — more officers, more safety, and more results.
Because of our steadfast focus on eradicating gun violence, and the hard work of the brave men and women of New York’s Finest, New York City continues to be the safest big city in America, and we will keep working until we are the best place to raise a family as well.
The post Op-Ed | Making our streets safer with more than 1,000 illegal guns taken off NYC streets since beginning of 2025 first appeared on The Ocean Avenue News – oceanavenuenews.com.
