NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – Mayor Eric Adams joined MTA and NYPD leadership Wednesday to tout a double-digit decrease in subway crime this year, with the mayor saying the transit system is the safest it’s been in more than a decade.
The mayor held a news conference at the Fulton Center station in the Financial District to celebrate the new crime statistics, which show a 44.4% drop in transit crime this week compared to the same week in 2023.
The data also shows transit crime is down 26.6% over the past four weeks compared to the same period last year, and that it’s down 7.8% year to date.
Adams said the transit system has seen five straight months of double-digit decreases in overall subway crime, and that July is on track to be the sixth month of such decreases.
"We are breaking the cycle of crime in our subway system," Adams said.
Transit crime was down 15.4% in February, 23.5% in March, 23% in April, 10.6% in May, and 15.3% in June, the stats show.
The subway also had the lowest number of robberies in recorded history, Adams said.
Flanked by NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper, the mayor credited the crime decline in part to the surge of 1,000 additional police officers into the system in February.
MTA Chairman Janno Lieber said the ongoing effort to install surveillance cameras in every subway car has also made a difference, as have hundreds of unarmed gate guards who prevent fare evasion, which officials have said is a precursor to transit crime.
Lieber said that in survey after survey, customers have reported safety as among their top concerns, along with service reliability.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, who was not at Wednesday’s news conference amid severe weather upstate, said in a statement that “secure, reliable transit is a necessity for residents and visitors in our great city,” and that her office will continue to work with the city on measures to improve subway safety.
Daily subway ridership has now reached 80% of its pre-pandemic numbers, with more than 4 million subway riders taking the system each day, Lieber said, calling the milestone proof “New Yorkers are coming back to transit.”
“Newsflash—it is not the dystopian hellscape our friends in the tabloid media sometimes portray,” Lieber said, adding that increased overnight ridership has helped the system feel safer.
Officials said the next step is weapons detectors near subway turnstiles; Adams predicted they will be rolled out at select locations "in the next few days."
Reacting to the news conference, Danny Pearlstein, of the Riders Alliance, said the drop in crime should spur Hochul to upgrade the system through funds provided by congestion pricing, implementation of which was "paused" by the governor last month.
"With subway crime numbers heading quickly in the right direction, Governor Kathy Hochul needs to address the urgent infrastructure challenges facing riders by starting congestion pricing," Pearlstein said. "After major subway meltdowns on the morning and evening commute yesterday, the governor owes the New Yorkers who elected her the modern, reliable, accessible transit system we deserve."