The first quarter of 2016 saw the fewest number of murders and shootings of any three-month period in recorded history — but the number of stabbings and slashings continued to rise, jumping more than 20 percent.

“Stabbings and slashings aren’t going away,” Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said Monday at a press conference at NYPD headquarters. “It’s reality. We live in New York City.”

The number of blade-related assaults increased 20 percent from 746 in the first quarter in 2015 to 899 for the same period in 2016, officials revealed.

“It’s one the few crimes that are going up, but at the same time it’s going up at a level that is a concern to us, so that’s the additional effort we’re putting into it,” the commissioner added.

Despite slashings continuing to be a thorn in the side of police brass, Bratton said the city continues to see other crime categories like murders and shootings dropping to historic lows. He even hailed this past January, February and March as “the best three months we’ve had in the CompStat era.”

Murders are down 21 percent for the year, with 68 recorded as of Sunday. There were 86 at the same time last year.

While shootings saw a 14 percent drop for the quarter, there was a slight increase over the past 28-day period ending Sunday, with 66 shootings over 62 during the same time in 2015.

Gun seizures increased 15.4 percent. Gun arrests also saw a 13.3 percent increase.

“There’s no question that this progress is further evidence of the extraordinary capacity of the NYPD,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

“The human impact of this — think about for a moment how many lives have been saved, how many people are walking the streets safely because of this extraordinary achievement,” he added.

“We are the safest big city in America … and this is while at the same time we have an increasing population.”