The Big Apple is on pace to hit nearly 500 murders before the close of 2021 — a bleak milestone not seen in a decade.
As of Sunday — and with five days left on the year — the NYPD has recorded 479 slayings, driven by a startling surge in gun violence across the city, data shows.
The Big Apple hasn’t recorded more than 500 murders since 2011 when there were 515 on the books, according to the data.
In 2012, homicides dropped to 419. In the following years, they plummeted into the 300s each year, except for 2017 when the city recorded 292 murders.
This year’s total already topped the tally of 462 in 2020 — a year that saw a spike in fatal incidents in major cities nationwide as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted nearly every aspect of life. That trend continued into 2021 with New York City seeing a late-year spike in murders.
Over the last month, nearly double the homicides were reported over the same four-week span — 41 this year between Nov. 28 and Dec. 26 compared to 24 during that same period last year, NYPD data shows.
The latest homicide statistics don’t include two men who were gunned down in separate incidents earlier this week.
Quelling the mounting number of murders will be just one of the challenges the incoming Eric Adams administration will face when the cop-turned-lawmaker takes the reins as mayor at the stroke of midnight Saturday.
Other major cities across the US have also struggled to reverse the troublesome crime trend. In Chicago, murders were approaching 800 with days left in the year, according to the Chicago Tribune. Philadelphia is expected to surpass 550 homicides, the highest total on record dating back to 1960, according to ABC.
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