Felony assaults in New York City have surged by 45% since 2017, driven largely by domestic and elder assaults, according to NYPD data that shows these categories have outpaced other types of attacks.
Felony assaults — defined as attacks that cause serious injury — reached a 25-year high last year and are on pace to be about the same this year, the data shows. Analysts have so far had little explanation for why those figures are ballooning while most other major crimes are down and the most headline-grabbing incidents, like homicides and shootings, have reached record lows.
NYPD Chief of Crime Control Strategies Michael LiPetri said the rise has been driven by a “small uptick” in three categories: domestic assaults, elderly assaults and assaults on police officers. But neither he nor a department spokesperson explained why.
Police data compiled by the state Division of Criminal Justice Services shows domestic and elderly assaults increased sharply in 2021 and continued to climb in the ensuing years. The categories combined increased by 73% between 2017 and 2024, while all remaining felony assaults increased by 40%.
A change in approach to combat domestic assaults
NYPD Assistant Chief Kevin Williams, who serves as commander for the department’s Queens South patrol borough, said domestic assaults were driving the rise in felony assaults in his area. At a public meeting in January, he said his officers would recalibrate their approach to try and reverse the trend.
“About 80% of our domestic violence assaults that we had in this borough ended up in arrests,” he said. “ We’re going to find new, innovative ways in which we can try to identify families that are in that type of crisis and provide them with resources.”
Police commanders in Morris Heights and Harlem have also noted an increase in domestic assaults and planned education programming to confront it.
Maureen Curtis, vice president of criminal justice programs at the victim services nonprofit Safe Horizon, said part of the rise in domestic assaults and arrests is due to better police training. She specifically cited better methods for identifying strangulation, which can be classified as either a felony or a misdemeanor.
In recent years, Curtis said, officers have been trained to ask more specific questions in such cases, like whether a strangulation victim lost consciousness or control of their bowels, which can help determine whether an incident should be charged as a felony.
“There is now a better understanding as to what an officer should look for,” she said.
From 2017 to 2024, felony strangulations rose by more than 1,700 citywide — to 4,500 — according to NYPD data. That represents a roughly 60% increase.
“Strangulation is an indicator of future lethal violence, and it happens very often in domestic violence cases but it’s often overlooked,” Curtis said.
Assaults on older New Yorkers surge as city’s senior population grows
NYPD data shows assaults against people over 65 years old have also jumped from 1,200 in 2017 to 2,700 in 2024 — a 125% spike.
The increase has taken advocates for older people by surprise.
“This is a concern for AARP New York,” Beth Finkel, state director of the nonprofit group, said. “We believe policymakers should focus on developing and funding programs to make communities safer for residents living in a variety of settings.”
“Those who live alone or are isolated may need special attention,” she added.
Experts said the city’s aging population has been a contributing factor. That demographic has grown by more than 200,000 between 2017 and 2023, from 1.2 million to 1.4 million, according to census data.
Julie Brancale, a Florida State University professor focused on crime against older people, said several potential factors might make elderly New Yorkers more vulnerable.
“Not only are we seeing this rise, but is there this shift in how we’re viewing our older adults?” she said. “Are they a vulnerable, easy target for financial, sexual, physical abuse?”
Linking rising violence to post-pandemic stress and fraying social bonds
Paul Reeping, a public safety researcher with the New York City-based nonprofit Vital City, cited the ongoing ripple effects of the COVID-19 pandemic as possible contributors to the rise in felony assaults.
“There was a breakdown in social trust and cohesion,” Reeping said. “ It’s a hypothesis out of exclusion, because I can’t find anything else to be a reason for why they’ve increased.”
Anastasiia Timmer, a professor of criminology and justice studies at California State University, Northridge, said society has changed since the pandemic, partly because existing divisions were exacerbated by the isolation of 2020.
She added that there have been more stressors on average Americans, ranging from civil unrest to increased political polarization to global wars affecting the United States.
“We’re not used to that many events happening at the same time,” she said. “That is one of the reasons why many more people respond with violence.”
Reeping echoed Timmer’s point, noting the lack of human connection has made people feel more vulnerable in public settings, like the city’s subway.
“During the pandemic, there was a breakdown in social trust and cohesion,” he said. “People that are a little bit on the edge, feeling like they’re living in a society that doesn’t feel as safe, that might be enough to push them over the edge.”
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