New York City just enjoyed a record-breaking 12 calendar day murder-free streak from Nov. 25 to Dec. 7.
While the Big Apple can congratulate itself on such a long, homicide-free streak, now it is officially over. According to amNY, man was shot dead in a Bronx apartment stairwell Sunday night. Now, the NYPD is questioning a suspect in the homicide. Police sources state the shooting occurred shortly after 9:05 pm on Dec. 7 in the Sotomayor Houses at 1744 Watson Ave., Soundview.
A 911 call alerted officers from the 43rd Precinct and Police Service Area 8 to a person shot in one of the stairwells in the Sotomayor Houses. On arrival, New York Police officers found Gregory Stewart, 38, of Barnes Avenue in Wakefield, more than four miles away, lying in the stairwell with a gunshot wound to his head. EMS rushed Stewart to NYC Health + Hospitals, Jacobi, where he was pronounced dead.
Police have taken a person of interest into custody for questioning, while a motive for the shooting and charges await the results of the ongoing investigation.
Reportedly, shootings in the 43rd Precinct are 30 percent up in 2025 as compared to 2024. Despite this, the Nov. 25 homicide marks the end of a record, 12-day murder-free streak – the longest stretch without a homicide since the New York Police Department started tracking crime numbers. Apparently, the previous 12-day murder-free stretch was a decade ago, in 2015. Moreover, November 2025 saw just 16 homicides citywide in New York City, which tied an all-time record of fewest murders reported in a single month in the city’s history, set back in November 2018.
The record-long streak without a homicide was attributed by Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch to the department’s efforts to combat violent crime across the city. Their efforts include deploying more officers and other resources to high-crime areas of the city in what the department terms as its Fall Violence Reduction Plan.
According to the NYPD, shootings in what it terms the “Fall Zones” are down by 40 percent during hours when additional resources are deployed. “Right strategy. Great execution. That’s how you set record after record,” Tisch explained in a statement. “Thank you to the members of the NYPD who have sacrificed so much this year to drive down violent crime to record lows.”
With Zohran Mamdani, 34, heading to become the 111th New York City Mayor after a historic win in November, hopes are that the new murder-free record will be beaten under his care.
In a November 21 meeting with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, Trump expressed hope that Mamdani would be a “really great mayor” while assuring he is “confident that he can do a very good job.” Previously, the president had disparagingly labeled the mayor elect a “communist,” so it was surprising when the two men seemed to hit it off. Partly this was due to their shared New York roots, while they unexpectedly praised each other, while softening previous remarks about each other.
Meanwhile, Mamdani has promised to make major changes in the city to make it more affordable, which could then, possibly, reduce the crime rate even more.
