Naysayers insisted that New York City was doomed under Zohran Mamdani. If you bought into their story, you’d expect the Big Apple to be a Mad Max-style hellscape by now, with regular New Yorkers beaten down under the imposition of Sharia law.
After all, what else could possibly happen under a mayor who’s both a Muslim and *spooky sounds* a Democratic Socialiiiiiist.
The reality is, predictably, quite the opposite. Mamdani has spent just a single month in charge of the city, and crime is already plummeting. Earlier this week, Police Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch delivered the good news that this was the safest January ever for gun violence in the city, with the fewest shooting incidents and shooting victims in recorded history.
More impressively, homicides cratered by 60%, and there were just 12 in the entirety of New York City in the first month of Mamdani’s administration. In something of a coup, Manhattan and Staten Island went the entire month without a single murder being reported.
Mamdani’s utopia
New analysis reveals New York City just had its safest January on record.
— FactPost (@factpostnews) February 4, 2026
Homicides plunged 60 percent, and shooting incidents dropped by 20 percent compared to January 2025. pic.twitter.com/TK4KDQ6vpo
Burglary, robbery, auto theft, grand larceny, and felony assault were also all down, as was retail theft. In total, across the entire city, major crime was down 6.7% than previous years.
Admittedly, you might question whether this is really ‘The Mamdani Effect’. After all, it’s difficult to see how a mayor could bring crime figures down just a few weeks into his term of office. On the other hand, if these figures had risen, you can bet Mamdani’s enemies would immediately point to them as evidence that the city was collapsing into chaos around him.
Genuinely very funny that they couldn't find a way to spin the January crime numbers to make Mamdani look bad so they went with "under NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch." https://t.co/IWX2AlelTQ
— Ben Burgis (@BenBurgis) February 4, 2026
You may also point out that New York City has been cold – even by regular January standards – so perhaps it’s simply too chilly to be on the streets playing out a real-life Grand Theft Auto style rampage right now.
But, however you slice it, and no matter how many qualifiers you add, it’s an objective fact that violent crime is down under Mamdani. We can only hope the rest of his term sees New York City continue to turn into a safer and more affordable place for regular people. Fingers crossed.
