Low-crime April LEAST cruel month

SERIOUS CRIME dropped again last month, making it “the safest April we’ve ever had,” Mayor de Blasio said Tuesday.

The crime rate fell 4%, led by 150 less robberies compared with April 2017, a drop of 14%. There was also a 28% drop in shootings — 49 compared with 68 in April 2017.

Rapes spiked sharply, however, with 172 in April, a 45% jump over the 119 last April.

Police have said attention to sex crimes following a series of high-profile cases have encouraged more women attacked in recent years to come forward.

The Daily News reported Tuesday that even though subway crime is down 8%, robberies underground are up, particularly in Manhattan, where 54 robberies in April represent a 54% increase over the 35 last year.

Police Commissioner James O’Neill and Chief of Transit Edward Delatorre said the spike has slowed in recent weeks.

Police said fare evasion enforcement — arrests and summons — is down sharply citywide, reflecting a shift in strategy, with more cops now on the trains, where about half the crimes take place.