There were 479 people murdered in New York City so far in 2021, the most since 2011 and part of a violent upsurge plaguing the city since last year. Along with the murder count, shootings have been the highest since 2003 and felony assaults the highest since 2001, according to data from the New York City Police Department (NYPD). Meanwhile, arrests dropped by nearly a third this year by the end of September compared to the same period in 2019. In 2020, arrests were even lower, NYPD data shows. Shootings started to surge last year in May coinciding with protests and rioting in the city after the killing of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis. Last year ended with more than 1,850 people getting shot in the city, more than double from the year before. This year, there have already been 1,857 people shot by Dec. …