Rapes still up in NYC as murder, shootings, other major crimes fall

Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News on Jul 1, 2026

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NEW YORK — Murders and shootings in the city continue to drop, but rapes are still up halfway through the year, according to statistics.

The NYPD said its continued push to encourage more victims to report what happened to them, coupled with an expanded definition of what constitutes rape, has fueled the increase — up 6% this year through June 21.

In fact, recent NYPD press releases detailing crime statistics for the prior month have noted the incidents now considered rape under the Rape is Rape Act — which went into effect Sept. 1, 2024, broadening the state’s definition to include nonconsensual sexual contact. The previous definition was limited to vaginal penetration by a penis. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch has said the expanded definition is necessary to combat sex crimes.

Jane Manning, director of Women’s Equal Justice, a nonprofit that helps sexual assault survivors, said it was important to highlight the new law’s impact in 2025, when rapes jumped 16% compared to the year before — up to 2,048 from 1,762.

But rather than continue to cite the new definition, she said the public would be better served if there were more investigators assigned to the NYPD Special Victims Unit and a more comprehensive strategy for preventing rape and other sex crimes.

“In the Bronx, they saw a problem and put resources into combating it,” Manning said, noting the Police Department’s recent move to split the borough into two patrol commands. “They came up with a strategy. But a 13-year-old gets raped in Van Cortland Park — where is your strategy combating that?”

The NYPD did make an arrest in that case, charging Abundio Hernandez Cantu, 36, on Monday, though the victim in the June 23 incident went into the park willingly and did not get dragged there, as she initially said, according to a police source.

Manning is encouraged by Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch’s recent appointment of Kathleen Baer, the assistant commissioner for gender-based violence policy and planning — a first-of-its-kind post designed to improve the response to sex crime victims, in part, by better training its investigators.

“We think she is doing everything she can to increase the NYPD response to sexual violence assaults,” Manning said. “But they really need 200 to 300 more investigators.”

Sonia Ossorio, president of the city’s chapter of the National Organization for Women, said one way to help decrease the number of rapes is to take a closer look at each crime and the offenders.

Ossorio said the new rape definition is “an opportunity to decide on a better way to analyze what is happening in New York City with sexual assaults.”

“It’s an opportunity,” she said, “to see how things can be done better now.”

Through June 28, felony assault is the city’s only other crime category to have increased this year, though just by 0.3%. Murders are down 26%, to 119 from 160 last year, with robberies down 12% and burglaries down 16%. Grand larcenies are down 10% and grand larceny auto is down 6%.

In addition, the number of shooting victims this year versus last year has dropped by 3%, to 376 from 388.

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