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Mayor Adams takes swipe at rival as NYPD reports crime continues to fall
By
Charles Lane
Published Jul 1, 2025
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Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office
By
Charles Lane
Published Jul 1, 2025
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Mayor Eric Adams credited his experience, and not, in his words, an “experiment,” for the city’s ongoing drop in crime, in what appeared to be a dig at one of his 2025 challengers.
“This is a moment of having experience, not a moment when you're doing an experiment,” Adams said at a press conference Tuesday, without naming state Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist who won the city’s Democratic mayoral primary.
Adams listed several progressive public safety ideas – like defunding the police, decarceration and not hiring more police officers – and suggested they would make the city less safe.
Mamdani has previously criticized the NYPD and opposed specific aspects of its budget and tactics, including an uptick in stop-and-frisk and the controversial Strategic Response Group, which he said has “brutalized” protesters and cost the city millions in legal settlements.
A spokesperson for Mamdani said he would not defund the police, but would instead dispatch social workers and public health professionals to handle some responsibilities currently carried out by NYPD officers.
"Assist with mental health crises and homelessness, especially in the subway system,” campaign spokesperson Andrew Epsitine said in a statement. “These are evidence-proven strategies already working in cities across the country.”
The Adams administration said major crime fell 6% in the first six months of 2025, compared to the same period last year. That includes a 30% drop in shootings in June, and what officials called a historic low in shooting victims: 397 people shot citywide so far this year – the fewest ever recorded in the first half of a year.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch struck a celebratory tone.
“That didn't just beat the previous low,” said Tisch, who is now eight months into her tenure as Adams’ fourth police commissioner. “It shattered it.”
The city also saw fewer murders, robberies and transit crimes. Subway crime, often a political flashpoint, dropped to its lowest level since 2010, aside from pandemic years when ridership plummeted.
According to police statistics, there were 1,058 major subway crimes in the first six months of this year. That was the lowest number of transit crimes recorded since 2010, except for the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, officials said.
Felony assaults, a stubbornly increasing crime trend since the pandemic, remain high, but may be starting to trend downward. Tisch noted an 8% decline in June.
“ We're beginning to turn the corner,” she said.
Still, major crime remains higher than it was before the pandemic and above levels seen during former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration.
Police officials said one reason for the drop is a deployment strategy that places officers in 72 “violence reduction zones” around the city. Michael LiPetri, the NYPD’s chief of crime control strategies, said the tactic isn’t just aimed at shootings.
"We're there to sit and make New York safer in a lot of different ways,” he said.
Tisch and Adams blamed criminal justice reforms enacted by state lawmakers for a rise in crime during the first years of his administration. The mayor has consistently sought rollbacks in bail and discovery laws.
Tisch signaled again that they plan to address Raise the Age next year.
“ Right now we're very focused on the Raise the Age law,” she said. “ We're seeing more and more gangs recruiting younger and younger kids both to hold the weapons and to pull the trigger.”
Rape was the only crime category that rose so far this year, due mostly to a change in the state's definition of rape.
This story has been updated with comment from state Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani.
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new york city
public safety
Charles Lane
Charles is a Day-of reporter focused on breaking news and enterprise. He’s very friendly and can be reached at [email protected], or more securely on whatsapp/signal 631-295-6715
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