Subway Crime Reaches Lowest Levels in 16 Years

Thanks to the work of the NYPD, MTA Police Department, and other partners, transit crime has declined considerably in 2025. This summer, crime was down nearly 11 percent from 2024 levels. Felony assaults have decreased considerably in the second half of 2025, with the rate of assault incidents down 16 percent from 2024. In November, assaults were down 25 percent compared to the same month last year.

This significant reduction in crime follows a historic state investment to support the efforts of the NYPD to improve subway safety. Earlier this year, Governor Hochul allocated $77 million to support a first-of-its-kind collaboration with the NYPD to increase police presence in the subway, including by deploying officers on subway trains during overnight hours. To build on this success, Governor Hochul and Commissioner Tisch today announced that New York State will commit an additional $77 million for enhanced subway patrols in 2026. This funding will support the deployment of NYPD officers in the subway system in areas of greatest need and largest impact.

This enhanced deployment followed the joint commitment of Governor Hochul and Mayor Adams to keep subway riders safe. In 2022, the governor and mayor announced the “Cops, Cameras, Care” initiative, which surged additional NYPD and MTA Police Department officers into the subway system, funded the installation of cameras in every subway car, and scaled up city and state responses to mental health in the subway. Since the launch of this initiative, the rate of crimes per rider is down nearly 30 percent.

Governor Hochul also has provided substantial state resources to support individuals in need of mental health and psychiatric support in the transit system. Funded by a $20 million investment from the Governor’s five-point plan dedicated to supporting riders, 10 Subway Co-Response Outreach Teams (SCOUT), partnering with MTA police officers, are providing a clinician-led approach trained to address severe mental illness in the subway system. To date, SCOUT teams have made more than 900 referrals, including over 300 involuntary referrals, and collectively, these patients have received the help they need during more than 7,500 nights in hospital care.

Governor Hochul also directed the MTA to make improvements to the physical station environment to improve safety. In her 2025 State of the State address, she challenged the MTA to accelerate the installation of platform edge barriers at an additional 100 stations and complete the installation of brighter, safer LED lighting in all 472 subway stations by the end of the year. Today, the MTA has exceeded the goal for platform barriers, with barriers installed at 101 stations this year and 115 in total. The MTA is also on track to convert the final station to LED lighting next week at Times Sq-42 St.

Subway ridership is up nearly eight percent in 2025. This December, the subway has broken several post-pandemic ridership records: Thursday, December 11 was the highest post-pandemic ridership day with 4.654 million customers, Friday, December 12 saw the highest post-pandemic Friday ridership with 4.34 million customers, and Saturday, December 13 broke the record for best post-pandemic Saturday ridership with 3.223 million customers.

Customer survey data has also shown significant improvements in safety and overall satisfaction. When the MTA began conducting monthly surveys of subway riders in May 2022, customers reported an overall satisfaction of 46 percent, with 47 percent of riders reporting they felt safe. In 2025, these numbers have risen substantially: the rate of customers feeling safe in the subway increased from 57 percent in January to 71 percent in November, an improvement of 14 percentage points and the highest rate on record. Overall subway customer satisfaction increased from 57 percent in January to 67 percent in November, which is the highest subway satisfaction level on record.