New York Crime Rate — January 2026

Brooklyn CD9 — South Crown Heights / Lefferts Gardens registered the month's sharpest aggravated assault signal, the most prominent fresh move in January 2026. Sexual assault in Bronx CD12 — Williamsbridge / Baychester had been the lead category entering this briefing, but that pattern is one month old and the same bucket has been leading across multiple neighborhoods — making the South Crown Heights aggravated assault move the more notable new development this month.

Citywide volume is down 5.4% against the prior 12 months — 264,387 incidents against 279,462 in the year before — across 59 neighborhoods with tracked signals. The mix is active: 29 spikes against 42 below-trend signals, with 63 sustained-shift readings and one zero-event signal. Sexual assault spikes appeared in both Bronx CD12 — Williamsbridge / Baychester and Queens CD13 — Queens Village / Cambria Heights, while Queens CD6 — Forest Hills / Rego Park added a second aggravated assault signal in the top five.

The broader citywide decline holds, but January's signal mix is worth watching: five of the top five tracked signals this month are spikes, not drops. The sexual assault category appearing in two separate boroughs in the same briefing is a pattern to carry into February. No structural reversal is evident in the 12-month totals, but the composition of the anomalies shifted toward upward moves this month.

Sustained drops worth naming

Homicide ran below trend in the trailing 12 months — 27% down from the year before. Sustained shifts often precede a baseline reset; we surface them at the same prominence as spikes.