"The storyline of murder in New York is one that has been undergoing constant revision since the Police Department began tracking homicides in 1962. There have been rises — the homicide rate peaked in 1990 at 2,245 — and subsequent falls. But since such statistics have been compiled and examined, there has never been as few murders in New York as there have been this year. The city is on track, for the second time in three years, to have the fewest number of homicides in a 12-month period since 1962. As of Dec. 27, there were 461 murders; the current record low happened in 2007, when there were 496." - Christopher Chung