New York, NY —

With just a few days to go, 2009 is on pace to be the safest year in city history -- at least since reliable records were kept. Overall, crime has dropped by 11 percent since last year. Mayor Michael Bloomberg says that, since 2002, the number of rapes is down 38 percent, robbery is down 34 percent, and felony assault 29 percent. The city is also set to have the lowest number of murders ever.

"Before 2002, the city hadn't recorded fewer than 600 murders a year since the early 1960s when they started keeping murders in the current basis. And now, we'll have done that eight years in a row," Bloomberg says.

As of yesterday, there were 461 murders in the city this year. The previous record was 496 murders in 2007. This year alone, robbery is down 18 percent from its levels in 2008.

While serious crime remains low, misdemeanor charges in New York City rose 7 percent in 2009 and lesser violations were up 18 percent.