New York’s criminal element has sunk to a new despicable low in 2016, as crimes against the elderly have skyrocketed thanks to a wave of violent attacks on senior citizens, according to newly released NYPD statistics.

Slightly more than 1,000 people over 65 have been assaulted across the city through Oct. 31 — a 16 percent increase over the 863 old folks who were attacked in the same period in 2015, cops said.

Robberies also increased against the elderly, with a 6.5 percent jump so far this year from 348 to 371.

The total number of major crimes against the elderly is up 3.4 percent, with 5,027 against seniors compared to 4,862 in the same period last year.

The disturbing numbers have been illustrated by a number of high-profile attacks on older people, such the mugging of a wheel-chair bound 95-year-old woman in a Harlem clothing store in broad daylight in September.

Although the stats tell the story only through October, the trend seems to be continuing. On Wednesday an 81-year-old Brooklyn grandmother became the latest victim when a man with a knife robbed her in a 12:15 a.m. home invasion.

The crime began with the attacker ringing the woman’s doorbell at her Sheepshead Bay residence.

“She heard the doorbell ring; she came out, and she was saying ‘Who is it, who are you?’ and the person was saying ‘It’s me, it’s me,’ ” said the woman’s 54-year-old son, who asked to remain anonymous. “She assumed it was me.”

The crook pushed the woman into a back bedroom, where he demanded her purse and money. “He said, ‘Where’s the money, where’s the money?’ ” the son said.

He fled with about $300, police said.

“She’s shaken up and scared,” the son said. “I feel safe, but to prey on the elderly? What’s the world coming too?”

The only good news for city residents is that the data released this week show that crime overall is down 3.4 percent from last year, including a 5.6 percent drop in murder.