Citywide Murder Rate Hits Record Low, Sheepshead Breathes Easier

New York City is safer than ever as the murder rate has plummeted 20 percent, the lowest since 1963, according to a report in the New York Daily News. The drop in murders comes alongside a drop in overall shootings, the lowest in 18 years.

A Daily News report highlights the 25 percent drop in slayings in our own 61st precinct, which covers Sheepshead Bay, Gerritsen Beach and Gravesend.

“That’s a blessing,” Isitro Bennito, manager of Bagels and Beyond in Gravesend, told the Daily News. “I’ve seen more police this past year, I think that’s the reason. The police deserve a lot of credit.”

Mayor Bloomberg lauded the statistics at an NYPD Graduation Ceremony in Brooklyn and cited some interesting numbers as proof of his claim that New York is “the safest big city in America,”

Bloomberg compared New York’s murder rate — the lowest rate per 100,000 residents amongst the 25 most populated cities — to other famous cities in the country.

If the city had the murder rate of Chicago, cops would be investigating more than 1,400 homicides this year, Bloomberg said. If the city had Detroit’s murder rate, cops would be called to more than 4,400 killings this year, he added.

While the drop in deadly incidents is welcome news, the numbers concerning the drop in our own district are slightly misleading considering the notorious Maksim Gelman stabbing spree and other high profile killings which led to an anomalous spike in the murder rate the previous year.

Still, its encouraging that the actions of those who contributed to Sheepshead Bay’s deadliest year in a decade, were not indicative of a trend that carried forward into this one.