The crime rate in New York City has seen a spike during the ongoing coronavirus lockdown, with a rise in particularly violent crimes such as burglary and murder, as reported by Breitbart.
In the 28 days since Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) initiated a statewide stay-at-home order on March 20th, the city has seen an increase in violent crime, with murder increasing by 55 percent. Grand larceny auto crimes have seen a 53 percent increase, and burglaries have increased by 25 percent. As a result, the overall crime rate in New York City is up by 4.6 percent on a year-to-date basis.
Cuomo, along with Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-N.Y.), has been blamed for the rise in crime due to his initiative to release prisoners whom he considers to be at risk of catching the virus while incarcerated. Over 1,000 prisoners have already been released across the state, including sex offenders and other convicted felons.
The state of New York, and especially New York City, has been the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States. There have been over 282,000 confirmed cases in the state, with 158,000 coming from New York City. Of the over 16,000 deaths in the state that have been attributed to the virus, 12,000 are from New York City.