By Forum Staff
Mayor Eric Adams and City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch on Friday announced that the NYPD has removed more than 4,000 illegal firearms from Gotham streets since the start of 2025 alone. This year’s seizures bring the total number of illegal firearms seized since the start of the Adams administration in January 2022 to over 23,700.
This success has helped drive a 54-percent decrease in shootings and a 34-percent reduction in homicides citywide under the Adams administration, Hizzoner crowed.
Beginning on May 5, 2025, the NYPD deployed more than 2,000 officers to 72 summer violence zones in 40 precincts, eight housing police service areas, and 10 transit commands. During the four-plus month deployment, crime in those zones declined 18.3 percent — more than 400 fewer victims, and included decreases in all seven major crimes. Also in the summer violence zones, shooting incidents declined 47.3 percent and shooting victims declined 43.8 percent. Every borough in the city saw crime declines in their respective summer zones, with Staten Island down 70.8 percent, Queens down 36.2 percent, Manhattan down 22.7 percent, Brooklyn down 11.2 percent, and the Bronx down 10.2 percent.
Overall, major crimes also continue to trend downward across the five boroughs. In August 2025, major crime declined 6.7 percent citywide, driven by decreases in most major crime categories, as well as notable reductions in transit crime, housing development crime, hate crimes, and retail theft. From January through August 2025, major crime citywide dropped 4.5 percent compared to the same period last year, resulting in 3,799 fewer victims of major crimes across the five boroughs.
These successes have been supported by the NYPD’s targeted investigations into violent gangs, which have resulted in 55 gang takedowns year-to-date, leading to the arrests of 396 gang members and associates, as well as the seizure of 236 firearms. These efforts are directly contributing to fewer illegal guns on city streets and safer communities across the five boroughs.
Out of the more than 23,700 guns seized since the beginning of the Adams administration, over 1,500 of them have been identified as ghost guns — unserialized, and therefore untraceable, firearms that are assembled through components purchased either as a kit or as separate pieces or manufactured using 3-D printers. These weapons are fully functioning firearms and often end up in the hands of criminals as well as underage purchasers. Incidents involving ghost guns reflect a dangerously escalating trend — one that the NYPD is leading the charge against. The NYPD recovered 17 ghost guns in 2018, 48 in 2019, 150 in 2020, 263 in 2021, 585 in 2022, 394 in 2023, 438 in 2024, and already 199 so far in 2025.
“We know the dangers our police officers face every time they seize one of these deadly weapons, yet they continue to do this work at a historic pace,” Tisch said. “Since January, New York City has seen its lowest levels of shooting incidents and shooting victims in recorded history. These achievements come from our strategic plan: following the data, dismantling violent gangs, and deploying resources to the communities most threatened by gun violence.
