The number of stabbings and slashings in the Big Apple is rising — driven by violent incidents in homes, subways and schools, according to NYPD data.
There have been 4,493 knifings so far in 2023 as of Sunday, a 6% increase over the 4,237 in the same period of 2022, the data show.
At the same time, arrests for cutting crimes have increased nearly 30%, from 2,073 to 2,677, according to cops.
The increase in knifings was punctuated by a recent horrific incident in Queens.
An unhinged man fatally stabbed four of his relatives — including an 11-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy — with a steak knife and set their Far Rockaway house on fire before he injured two police officers and was shot dead by cops on Dec.3.
Police rushed to the home in Far Rockaway after a young girl called 911 and said her cousin “was killing her family members” — and she then jumped out of a window to escape but died, NYPD officials and police sources said.
Attacker Courtney Gordon, 38, was shot and killed by arriving cops after stabbing two of them, police said. A 12-year-old boy, a 44-year-old woman and a man in his 30s were found stabbed to death inside of the home. Family members said Gordon was struggling with mental health issues.
A Bronx cop said more people are carrying knives because they don’t feel safe in Gotham.
“Assaults are up and people of New York City are scared,” the cop said. “People feel safer having a knife on them for protection than to wait for the NYPD to finally help them when there isn’t a backlog of 911 calls that they have to answer. Personnel in the precincts is short, cops have to do more with less and cops can’t get to every serious crime in the time that they can. People need to fend for themselves these days.”