Occasionally the headline news isn’t all bad in the media. Earlier this week officials with the New York City Police Department (NYPD) were surprised to report that there were no murders, shootings or stabbings on Monday, November 26.

The NYPD was surprised because officials couldn’t remember the last time that the city didn’t record at least one violent crime on a given day.

The situation has been improving this year in the Big Apple as far as violent crime is concerned. Shootings are down about 10% from 2011, and so are murders, from 472 last year to about 400 this year.

Four hundred homicides are a far cry from the level of violence a couple decades ago. In 1990, New York City experienced a record 2,245 murders.

The city’s violence-free streak ended after 37 hours when a man was shot in Brooklyn at 11:20 Tuesday morning.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

No One Reported Shot, Stabbed Or Slashed In New York City On Monday, Police Sources Say (by Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News)

Violent Crime Takes a Holiday in New York City (by Chris Francescani, Reuters)