New York City reports over a week without any new homicide cases.
New York City has recently marked an unprecedented period in public safety, as it has surpassed a week without any reported homicides. This development comes in the wake of the last known homicide, which involved the tragic stabbing death of 80-year-old Lev Vayner in his Washington Heights apartment on November 24, 2025. The suspect, identified as 45-year-old Alon Riabichev, was reportedly living with Vayner at the time of the incident. Following the attack, Riabichev called 911 around 3:15 AM, confessing to the crime, and has since been charged with murder.
In a separate incident earlier on the same day as Vayner’s death, a 23-year-old man named Daevon Silva was violently attacked near Times Square. Silva was beaten with a baseball bat and subsequently stabbed by three assailants close to West 49th Street and Seventh Avenue at approximately 1:05 AM. Law enforcement officials report that no arrests have been made in that case.
It is important to note that the current homicide-free streak does not account for any previous incidents that have been reclassified as homicides since November 24. Nevertheless, this period of decreased violence is notable, especially when juxtaposed with earlier statistics indicating a broader trend toward reduced crime in the city. In January 2025, New York City experienced its longest stretch without shootings—five days—marking the first time in 30 years that such a break occurred.
Throughout the past week, 17 individuals in the city survived gunshot wounds, which included a tragic case where a 16-year-old basketball player was left paralyzed from the waist down due to a stray bullet. Despite these incidents, the overall year-to-date statistics reveal a significant decline in violent crime. By the end of November 2025, the city recorded 652 shootings that resulted in injuries to 812 victims, a decrease of over 20% compared to the same timeframe in the previous year, which had seen 843 shootings inflicting harm on 1,025 individuals.
November 2025 also stood out as one of New York City’s safest months in recent history, with only 16 reported homicides—tying the record low set in 2018. Notably, no homicides were reported in Queens and Staten Island during that month, contrasting sharply with November 2024, which recorded twice as many murders.
The New York Police Department has acknowledged this downward trend, with NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch declaring that the first 11 months of 2025 have witnessed the lowest number of shooting incidents and victims in recorded history. As the city continues to review and adapt its public safety strategies, these statistics underscore a significant shift in the safety landscape of New York City.
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