NYC meets deadline to share subway crime data

• New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has sent U.S. Transporation Secretary Sean Duffy a letter reviewing subway crime data and mitigation efforts. That letter is in response to Duffy’s direct request for the data.

• City officials said that NYC subway crime rates are among the lowest in 30 years, and NYPD data shows that subway crime is down 17.5% from last year. In a video posted to X, however, Secretary Duffy said that NYC subway crime is up 56% from 2019.

• New York Gov. Kathy Hochul recently allocated another $77 million to double NYPD subway patrols and further reduce crime on MTA subways.

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New York City’s transit and commuter services provider has sent a letter with details on subway crime and its mitigation efforts to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). This comes in response to a request for that information from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who had set a deadline of March 31 for the city to provide it. Duffy indicated that noncompliance could impact federal funding.

What are New York city and state officials saying?

Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Chair and CEO Janno Lieber’s correspondence to the DOT included crime statistics, de-escalation training for employees, and efforts to curb fare evasion. He said in his letter that New York City’s transit system remains one of the safest in the nation, asserting crime rates in the subway system are among the lowest in the last 30 years, since these statistics were first collected.

Lieber also cited data from the Federal Transit Administration that found riders in Minneapolis and Dallas were 13 times more likely, per trip, to be the victim of an assault.

Lieber also argued the MTA does not receive a fair share of federal funding for transit security, but still exceeds federal safety standards. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul previously pointed out the MTA serves 43% of the nation’s transit riders, yet receives only 17% of federal transit funding.

What is Secretary Duffy saying?

However, Duffy maintains that New York City should be doing more with its current resources to further reduce crime in the subway system, posting a video to X claiming the problem could be fixed in just hours.

“In 36 hours, she could clean up the subways. This could be a non-issue. Crime rates are still up 56% since 2019. This is not hard,” Duffy said.

Over the last six years, assaults on the city’s transit system have risen by about the amount Duffy stated, but the latest NYPD data also indicates that overall subway crime is down 17.5% from last year and nearly 19% from pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

What happens next?

To further enhance safety, Gov. Hochul has deployed state police, the National Guard, and additional NYPD patrols to subway stations. Meanwhile, Lieber has extended an invitation to Secretary Duffy to tour the subway system firsthand, but it remains unclear whether the DOT will accept.