1974’s Death Wish was a film which epitomised violence identified with New York’s
1974’s Death Wish was a film which epitomised violence identified with New York’s

On Monday, police in New York reported a statistic almost unheard of in a city synonymous with crime - an entire day went by without anyone being shot, stabbed or slashed.

Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said he could not remember the last time the city went through an entire day with any of the so called 'big three' crimes taking place.

"Nice way to start the week," Browne added.

The streak ended at around 11:20 local time on Tuesday, when a 27-year-old man was shot in Brooklyn, New York Daily News reported.

A 16-year-old boy was sent to a Bronx hospital with a gunshot wound to his thigh, but police determined the teenager accidently shot himself and was not involved in any crime.

This latest statistic has continued an apparent trend seen lately in New York, with the city expected to finish with about 400 murders, down from 472 last year.

There have also been 10 percent fewer people shot, down from 1,674 last year to 1,514 in 2012 - roughly about five a day.

Tom Reppetto, a NYPD historian and author of American Police, 1945-2012 , said of the figures: "They're going to come in with the fewest number of murders since about 1960.

"It's an almost impossible figure, but their [the police's] programs have been fabulously successful in stopping crime."

Reppetto compared this figure to 1990, when the city logged a record 2,245 murders.

"There were shootings galore,'' Reppetto said.

"We lived in a town where people were afraid to come out of their houses, where babies slept in bathtubs to avoid getting shot, where nursery schools ran drills - 'When you hear the shots, drop down.'"

New York