Legal Trends
NYC Paid $266.7M to Settle NYPD Claims in FY23. The Borough Map Shows Where.
NYC tort payouts hit $739.6M in FY23. NYPD claims accounted for 36%. Bronx led every borough at $198.2M total. Comptroller data, primary sources.
Key Finding
NYC paid $266.7 million to settle claims against the NYPD in fiscal year 2023, a 12% increase from $239.1 million the year before. Total citywide tort settlements hit $739.6 million. The Bronx led every borough at $198.2 million in total payouts. Separately, the Legal Aid Society's 2025 Cop Accountability analysis tracked $117 million across 1,044 misconduct lawsuits. Most are filed under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983, the federal civil rights statute.
Key Facts
NYC paid $266.7 million to settle NYPD claims in FY23. That was a 12% increase from $239.1 million in FY22.
The Bronx led every borough at $198.2 million in total tort payouts and 7,229 claims filed. Staten Island, the lowest, paid $29.7 million.
NYPD claims accounted for roughly 36% of all $739.6 million in citywide tort settlements paid in FY23.
Separately, the Legal Aid Society’s Cop Accountability Project tracked 1,044 settled police misconduct lawsuits totaling $117.2 million in 2025. Total NYPD misconduct payouts since 2019: nearly $800 million.
NYC paid $266.7 million to settle claims against the NYPD in fiscal year 2023. That was the second-highest single-year total on record, up 12% from $239.1 million in FY22. Citywide tort settlements across every agency totaled $739.6 million, meaning NYPD claims accounted for roughly 36 cents of every dollar the city paid out.
$266.7M
NYPD claims paid by NYC in FY23, up 12% from $239.1M in FY22. NYPD claims accounted for 36% of the $739.6M in total citywide tort settlements.
NYC Comptroller Annual Claims Report, Fiscal Year 2023 (April 2024)
Methodology
The borough and agency totals here come directly from the NYC Comptroller’s Annual Claims Report covering fiscal year 2023 (July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023), published April 16, 2024. Citywide tort claim totals are reported by the Comptroller across all city agencies. The Legal Aid Society’s Cop Accountability Project 2025 settlement totals are tracked separately and cover police misconduct lawsuits resolved in calendar year 2025. The two datasets measure different windows and slightly different categories: the Comptroller report covers all NYPD tort claims (excessive force, false arrest, motor vehicle, property damage), while the Cop Accountability Project tracks civil rights misconduct cases only. Both are cited for the time periods they cover. Borough-level data reflects total tort payouts across every city agency in FY23, not NYPD alone.
The Bronx Pays Out More Than Every Other Borough
In FY23, the Bronx accounted for $198.2 million in NYC tort payouts across every city agency. That was the highest of any borough. The Bronx also led in total claims filed at 7,229. Brooklyn followed at $174.1 million, Manhattan at $147.4 million, Queens at $102.3 million, and Staten Island, the lowest, at $29.7 million.
The Bronx total reflects both volume and severity. NYC’s poorest borough also carries the highest rates of NYPD stops per capita according to historical NYCLU stop-and-frisk reporting, and it concentrates a disproportionate share of public housing units where premises liability claims arise. Both threads feed the tort line.
The borough that pays out the most isn’t always the borough with the most people. It’s the borough with the most policing.
The chart above renders five bars, one per borough, sorted by total FY23 tort payouts. Bronx in Burnt Copper as the leader. Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island in slate behind it. Source: NYC Comptroller’s published FY23 claims report.
NYPD Claims Took 36 Cents of Every Tort Dollar
Of the $739.6 million NYC paid in tort claims across every agency in FY23, $266.7 million came from claims filed against the NYPD. That is roughly 36%. The Department of Education came in second by share, at $92.8 million according to the same Comptroller report. Every other agency combined made up the balance.
In FY22, NYPD payouts were $239.1 million. The 12% jump to $266.7 million in FY23 outpaced the citywide tort total, which barely moved from $737.8 million to $739.6 million. Claims filed against the NYPD rose too. The Comptroller counted 6,891 NYPD tort claims in FY23, a 50% jump from 4,588 the year before and the first annual increase since FY2014.
What Section 1983 Adds
Most police misconduct lawsuits against the NYPD are filed under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 , the federal civil rights statute enacted in 1871 to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment. It allows anyone to sue a government official who, acting under color of law, deprives them of constitutional rights. 42 U.S.C. § 1988 provides for attorney’s fees in successful civil rights actions, which is why firms take these cases when the city’s typical settlement is below typical defense costs.
Common Section 1983 claims against the NYPD include:
- Excessive force, including use of tasers, batons, restraints, and deadly force
- False arrest and false imprisonment, when an officer arrests without probable cause
- Unlawful search and seizure, including warrantless entries and stop-and-frisk encounters
- Malicious prosecution, when officers initiate or continue charges they know lack basis
- Failure to intervene, when one officer fails to stop another from violating rights
- Fabrication of evidence, including coerced confessions and false reports
The Legal Aid Society’s Cop Accountability Project, which has tracked NYPD settlements for years, reported $117,251,230.82 in misconduct payouts across 1,044 settled lawsuits in 2025. That was the fourth consecutive year payouts exceeded $100 million. Since 2019, the project’s running total of NYPD misconduct settlements has reached nearly $800 million. Wrongful conviction cases accounted for $42 million, roughly 36% of the 2025 total.
The Cop Accountability number ($117M) and the Comptroller’s NYPD tort total ($266.7M FY23) measure different things. The Comptroller covers all NYPD-related claims including motor vehicle collisions with police vehicles, property damage, and personal injury beyond civil rights. The Cop Accountability Project covers only the civil rights subset. Both numbers are real, both are public, and the gap between them is the line where misconduct ends and other torts begin.
Where the Precinct Map Goes Next
The Comptroller’s published FY23 report breaks out borough totals but does not publish precinct-level NYPD claims data in its summary. That granular layer exists inside the city’s claims management system. A precinct-level map of where NYPD settlement dollars actually land would require a FOIL request against the claims management database, joined to the NYPD’s published precinct boundaries. The closest publicly available proxy today is the Civilian Complaint Review Board’s substantiated complaint data on NYC Open Data, which is reported by precinct.
Building that join is the next data harvest on this beat. Until then, the borough-level numbers reported here are the most granular public view of where NYC’s NYPD-related tort dollars actually go.
Borough Deep Dives
Each borough’s NYPD claim pattern looks different up close. The Bronx leads in volume. Brooklyn carries the city’s largest single liability cluster. Manhattan’s payouts concentrate in cases, not precincts. Queens owns the largest individual wrongful conviction settlement in city history. Staten Island, the smallest by dollar volume, anchors the policy legacy of Eric Garner.
- The Bronx: $198M in tort payouts and a South Bronx precinct corridor
- Brooklyn: the Scarcella debt and the 77th Precinct ratio
- Manhattan: how a 1986 investigation keeps paying out in 2025
- Queens: $47.7M, three exonerations, one DA’s office
- Staten Island: small numbers, defining moments
What This Means for People Hurt by Police
If you are injured by NYPD officers, a Section 1983 lawsuit is the standard federal vehicle for civil rights claims. The City typically defends and indemnifies officers in these cases, meaning the City, not the officer personally, pays settlements. Three points the data above changes:
The settlement universe is large and growing. $266.7M paid by the city in a single year is not a one-off, it’s a four-year trend. The City has demonstrated capacity to settle high-value civil rights claims when liability is clear.
The borough you were hurt in matters less than the claim type. The Bronx leads borough totals because of volume across all agencies, not because civil rights cases settle for more there. A strong Section 1983 claim from any borough resolves through the same legal framework.
Wrongful conviction cases drive the upper tier. Roughly 36% of 2025 misconduct payouts, about $42 million, came from wrongful conviction matters, where the underlying injury is years of liberty deprivation and the legal framework permits substantial damages.
Section 1983 is the only law that bills the City per officer.
Sources
- NYC Comptroller. (April 16, 2024). Annual Claims Report, Fiscal Year 2023. https://comptroller.nyc.gov/reports/annual-claims-report/
- Legal Aid Society. (2025). Cop Accountability Project: 2025 NYPD Misconduct Settlements Analysis. https://legalaidnyc.org/programs-projects-units/the-cop-accountability-project/
- NYC Open Data. (2025). CCRB Complaints Against Police Officers. https://data.cityofnewyork.us/Public-Safety/CCRB-Complaint-Database-Allegations/6xgr-kwjq
- CourtListener. (2025). SDNY and EDNY Section 1983 dockets search, 2020 to 2025. https://www.courtlistener.com/?type=o&court=nysd%20nyed&q=42%20U.S.C.%201983
- Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute. 42 U.S.C. § 1983, Civil Action for Deprivation of Rights. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/1983
Updated June 14, 2026
Frequently asked questions
- How much did NYC pay in NYPD claims in fiscal year 2023?
NYC paid $266.7 million to settle claims against the NYPD in FY23. That was a 12% increase from $239.1 million in FY22. Citywide tort settlements across all agencies totaled $739.6 million, meaning NYPD claims accounted for roughly 36% of all city tort payouts.
- Which borough had the most tort claims paid by NYC in FY23?
The Bronx led every borough with $198.2 million in total tort payouts and 7,229 claims filed. Brooklyn followed at $174.1 million, Manhattan at $147.4 million, Queens at $102.3 million, and Staten Island at $29.7 million. The Bronx total includes claims across all city agencies, not only NYPD.
- What is a Section 1983 claim?
42 U.S.C. Section 1983 is the federal civil rights statute that lets people sue government officials who deprive them of constitutional rights while acting under color of law. Common claims against the NYPD include excessive force, false arrest, unlawful search, and malicious prosecution. 42 U.S.C. Section 1988 provides for attorney's fees in successful civil rights actions.
- How many police misconduct lawsuits did NYC settle in 2025?
The Legal Aid Society's Cop Accountability Project tracked 1,044 settled police misconduct lawsuits in 2025 totaling $117,251,230.82. That was the fourth consecutive year that misconduct payouts exceeded $100 million. Since 2019, total NYPD misconduct settlements have reached nearly $800 million.
- What is the average settlement for police misconduct?
Settlement amounts for NYPD misconduct claims vary widely depending on the nature of the incident, the severity of injuries, and the specific legal theories involved, so no single average figure applies to every case. NYC paid $266.7 million to settle NYPD claims in fiscal year 2023, a 12 percent increase from $239.1 million in FY22. The Legal Aid Society's Cop Accountability Project tracked $117.2 million across 1,044 settled misconduct lawsuits in 2025. Claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for excessive force, false arrest, or civil rights violations can resolve anywhere from modest amounts for minor incidents to multi-million-dollar outcomes in cases involving serious injury or wrongful death under EPTL § 5-4.1. A notice of claim has to be filed with the NYC Comptroller within 90 days under General Municipal Law § 50-e or the state-law claim is barred.
- What are common examples of police misconduct?
Police misconduct in NYC covers a range of conduct that can give rise to civil liability, including excessive force, unlawful stops and searches, false arrest, malicious prosecution, fabrication of evidence, failure to intervene, and deliberate indifference to a serious medical need while someone is in custody. NYC paid $266.7 million in NYPD claims in fiscal year 2023, roughly 36 percent of all citywide tort settlements that year. A civil rights claim can be brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in federal court or under New York State law. State-law claims against the city require a notice of claim filed within 90 days under General Municipal Law § 50-e, and the state-law statute of limitations is one year and 90 days under General Municipal Law § 50-i. The federal § 1983 limitations period in New York is three years under CPLR § 214.
- What are the two requirements for a successful Section 1983 lawsuit?
A 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim has two core requirements. First, the conduct has to have been carried out by someone acting under color of state law, meaning a government official or entity exercising official authority. Second, that conduct has to have deprived the injured person of a right secured by the U.S. Constitution or federal law. In NYPD cases the color-of-law element is usually straightforward because officers act under municipal authority, but proving the constitutional violation itself, such as an unlawful seizure under the Fourth Amendment or excessive force, requires detailed factual support. Municipalities can also face liability under Monell v. Department of Social Services when a policy or custom causes the violation, so building a complete § 1983 case often involves both individual officer conduct and broader institutional evidence.
- What is the difference between Section 1983 and Bivens?
42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Bivens are parallel federal civil rights remedies that apply to entirely different defendants. § 1983 covers constitutional violations committed by state and local government actors, which in NYC means NYPD officers, correction officers, and other municipal employees acting under color of state law. Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents (1971) is a judicially created remedy that applies to federal officers, such as DEA agents, FBI personnel, or federal correction officers. The practical difference matters because Bivens claims are far more restricted: the Supreme Court has repeatedly narrowed the contexts in which Bivens applies, and there is no equivalent to Monell liability that would let you sue a federal agency itself, only the individual officer. If NYPD violated your rights, a § 1983 claim in federal or state court is the established path.
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Antin, J. S. (2026, May 13). NYC Paid $266.7M to Settle NYPD Claims in FY23. The Borough Map Shows Where.. AEE Law Insights. https://aeelaw.com/insights/nyc-police-claims-by-borough-fy23/
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