New York City police sharply increased enforcement of low-level offenses in fiscal 2026, issuing 220,802 quality-of-life summonses, according to the city’s Mayor’s Management Report. That was up 13% from 196,102 summonses in fiscal 2025 and more than triple the 67,408 issued in fiscal 2022.
The surge reflects a harder line under NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and the city’s Quality of Life Division, which was launched last year with precinct-based Q-Teams and 311 and 911 response teams. The unit focuses on complaints that residents often see as everyday nuisances, including street drinking, public urination and noise.
Among the categories listed in the report, noise summonses rose to 4,272 from 3,696, a 15.7% increase. Public urination summonses also climbed, rising to 10,187 from 10,003. Public drinking was the only major category to edge lower, falling to 56,070 from 57,653.
The numbers signal a return to a more aggressive “broken windows” style of policing in New York, where officers target minor violations in an effort to improve order in the streets. For many Americans, the approach is familiar from city policing debates; in New York, it has become a central part of the administration’s public safety strategy.
