Harlem Crime Has Jumped By 44 Percent In 2022, Data Shows

HARLEM, NY — Reports of crime have risen significantly in most corners of Harlem so far in 2022 compared to the same period last year — mirroring a citywide trend, according to NYPD data.

Across Harlem's six police precincts, there were 1,153 crimes reported through Friday compared to 801 during the same window in 2021: a 44 percent increase. That's roughly in line with the 47 percent increase observed citywide.

Each Harlem precinct has seen an increase: most dramatically, the 26th in West Harlem, where crime has more than doubled compared to last year.

Broken down by category, the incidents seeing the biggest jumps include car thefts (238 percent increase) and grand larcenies (50 percent.) The number of murders has increased slightly, from seven last year to 10 so far in 2022, while shootings have also risen modestly, from 16 to 21.

In Harlem and around New York, crime levels remain far below their peak in the 1980s and '90s: Central Harlem's 28th Precinct, for example, has reported 67 percent fewer crimes this year than it did in the same period in 1993.

Still, the recent increase has rattled many New Yorkers, punctuated by high-profile incidents like the killing of Michelle Go at the Times Square subway station, the shooting of two police officers in Harlem and the stabbing of Christina Yuna Lee in Chinatown.

Mayor Eric Adams has vowed to counteract the violence, in part by redeploying controversial plainclothes anti-gun units to certain neighborhoods, including Harlem. (Adams has said the units, which were disbanded in 2020 amid long-held allegations of brutality, will wear more identifiable uniforms.)

"Within a week or so, the commissioner said we have the first round of officers going through," the mayor told Fox5 on Monday, referring to the anti-gun units. "They're going to hit the streets."

Adams's lengthy "blueprint" for reducing gun violence also includes proposals to expand job programs and local "cure violence" groups, while calling on the state to send teenagers caught with guns to criminal court instead of family court. Adams has also taken aim at the state's 2019 law that eliminated cash bail for nonviolent offenses, though experts say there is no evidence linking the law to crime increases, and point instead to the pandemic as a factor in rising crime across the U.S.

At the end of 2021, Patch reported that crime had risen modestly across Harlem compared to 2020, with offenses like assault and grand larceny increasing while burglaries declined.

Related coverage:

• Controversial Plainclothes NYPD Units Coming To Harlem
• Did Crime Rise In Harlem In 2021? Yes And No
• Tenants Of Harlem Block Where Officers Were Shot Feel 'All Alone'
• Harlem Leaders Sound Alarm Over 125th Street Safety Issues