May slays rise, but ’18 still safe

DESPITE A SPIKE in murders in May, overall crime citywide remained low in the month, police officials said Tuesday.

The number of homicides jumped in May by 30% — 34 compared to 26 in the same period in 2017. Police officials said the jump took place in the first two weeks of the month and then stabilized after cops were redeployed to trouble spots.

Overall murders for the year sit at 116 — the same amount as in the same period in 2017.

The number of rapes skyrocketed by nearly 50% in May — 181 compared to 121 in 2017. That was the biggest jump in 16 years. However, police officials attributed much of that to improved reporting, saying that 35 of the rapes took place in prior years, including 12 that happened more than five years ago.

The number of assaults also increased, from 1,832 in May 2017 to 1,886 in May 2018.