{"id":965,"date":"2026-06-01T11:09:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T11:09:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=965"},"modified":"2026-06-01T11:09:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T11:09:47","slug":"new-york-may-be-facing-a-crime-trend-even-worse-than-deadly-gang-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=965","title":{"rendered":"New York may be facing a crime trend even worse than deadly gang violence"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

While New York\u2019s leaders have been cheering the city\u2019s steady decline in murder, another indicator has been giving public-safety advocates pause.<\/p>\n

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Homicides and shootings have been on a downward trajectory, but felony assaults exploded in early 2021 \u2014 and remain far above their pre-pandemic lows.<\/p>\n

The city has seen just over 11,000 such crimes year-to-date, NYPD data show, essentially unchanged from the same period last year and up 3% versus 2024.<\/p>\n

At the end of last year, the total figure was up 44% versus 2019.<\/p>\n

The trend is alarming in itself. But combined with the decline in murders and shootings, there\u2019s reason to believe it indicates a rise in acts of casual violence \u2014 a sign of more systemic problems to come.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s driving the increase? Gov. Kathy Hochul cited \u201cassaults on public-sector employees\u201d \u2014 including bus drivers and police officers \u2014 and domestic violence.<\/p>\n

These account for about 10% and 40% of incidents, respectively.<\/p>\n

Such incidents have occasionally captured the spotlight, as with the four MTA employees assaulted \u201cwith wrenches, fists and feet,\u201d The Post reported last year.<\/p>\n

In February, assaults against cops were up 3% over the prior year, per The Post.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s significant is that this increase in violence has come as other, deadlier violence has fallen.<\/p>\n

The decline in homicides is the result of NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch doing what works: focusing on the handful of people and places that disproportionately drive violent offenses.<\/p>\n

Rolling up gang members and surging NYPD to hot spots is almost certainly to thank for the city\u2019s record low rates of shootings, too.<\/p>\n

But how do we square the circle of this decline against the increase in aggravated assaults?<\/p>\n

One possible answer: Others, besides the few serial offenders, are now getting in on the action.<\/p>\n

Some evidence suggests that\u2019s true. I looked at court data on arrests for felony violations of the state\u2019s assault law.<\/p>\n

In 2025, 62% of those arraigned on a felony assault charge had no prior convictions; 74% had no prior felony<\/em> convictions.<\/p>\n

Those are both increases against the 2020 figures \u2014 54% and 68%, respectively.<\/p>\n

In other words, people charged with felony assault are now more likely to have no prior convictions \u2014 meaning they\u2019re less likely to be career criminals.<\/p>\n

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Take, for example, 21-year-old Nassadir Tate, charged with punching a 55-year-old man after the victim bumped into Tate on a subway platform. Tate\u2019s victim later died of the wounds.<\/p>\n

Tate had no arrest record at the time. A relative told The Post that \u201che\u2019s never gotten into trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

How, then, did he end up punching a man to death? And why do people keep assaulting bus drivers, cops and significant others?<\/p>\n

While violence may be most likely to be perpetrated by a handful of high-frequency offenders, there is also a general level of violent conduct in a society.<\/p>\n

Norms of civic life dictate how we resolve petty disputes \u2014 like someone accidentally bumping into us on a crowded subway platform.<\/p>\n

Those norms are by no means fixed; they are the product of community expectations, cultural representations and, most important, the law.<\/p>\n

When respect for the law declines \u2014 when, for example, public officials advocate for the abolition of prisons and police officers \u2014 people\u2019s behavior can and does shift.<\/p>\n

Moreover, there can be a feedback loop in which lawlessness breeds permission for more lawlessness, creating a runaway cycle that becomes harder and harder to abate.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The fact that assaults have remained high even as other kinds of violence have declined is a sign that norms may have shifted \u2014 in a worrisome direction.<\/p>\n

Do New Yorkers feel more comfortable now expressing their feelings through violence? Do they feel they have the permission to act out they didn\u2019t five years ago?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to know for certain. But the bigger concern is that this trend toward violent behavior does not seem to be abating.<\/p>\n

And if that\u2019s the case, the city\u2019s peace may not be a lasting one \u2014 and a bigger problem than deadly, rampant gang violence might be rearing its head.<\/p>\n

Charles Fain Lehman is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and senior editor of City Journal.<\/em><\/p>\n

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While New York\u2019s leaders have been cheering the city\u2019s steady decline in murder, another indicator has been giving public-safety advocates pause: Felony assaults exploded in early 2021 \u2014 and remain far above their pre-pandemic lows.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":964,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\nNew York may be facing a crime trend even worse than deadly gang violence - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=965\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New York may be facing a crime trend even worse than deadly gang violence - 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