Major Transit Crimes Down 29% and Arrests Up 71% Year to Date

Major Transit Crimes Down 28% Compared to Same Period in 2019

Continued Investments by Governor, NYPD and MTA Aim to Further Reduce Crime

Two Police Officers Deployed on Every Subway Train Between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m.

Security Cameras Installed on Every Subway Car; Expanded Mental Health Outreach

Ridership Continues To Increase With 1.2 Billion Riders in 2024, Ridership Up 7% Year to Date

Governor Kathy Hochul on March 6th, marked one year since enacting her five-point subway safety plan by highlighting reductions in New York City transit crimes and her administration’s ongoing efforts to expand safety initiatives throughout the transit system. Last year, Governor Hochul announced a surge in State personnel to assist with NYPD bag checks, directing the MTA to accelerate camera installation throughout the system, and also increase the number of Subway Co-Response Outreach (SCOUT) teams throughout the system — which operate in addition to the existing Safe Options Support (SOS) teams. Earlier this year, Governor Hochul announced additional steps to increase law enforcement presence, expand public resources and strengthen mental health policies to make the transit system safer. These new measures included partnering with New York City officials to increase NYPD patrols on subway platforms and trains; installing new protective barriers on subway platforms to protect riders; upgrading fare gates and delaying egress on exit gates to help crack down on fare evasion; adding LED lighting throughout stations to increase visibility; and updating and strengthening key mental health laws to ensure that New Yorkers with severe mental illness are connected with care instead of being left to languish on subway trains and platforms.

“Keeping New Yorkers safe is my top priority — and I’ll never stop working to ensure riders can rely on our subways to safely get wherever they need to go,” Governor Hochul said. “By adding uniformed officers to every train, fortifying our transit infrastructure, and expanding mental health outreach, we've made real progress in driving down transit crime. Working in partnership with law enforcement, district attorneys and mental health experts, we're working to make the subways safer for every straphanger.”

As a result of these initiatives, major transit crimes are down 29 percent and arrests are up 71 percent year to date. When looking at the same time period, major transit crimes are down 28 percent from pre-pandemic levels in 2019. In the first nine weeks of 2025, New York City is experiencing the lowest number of subway crimes in 30 years, outside of the pandemic. Crime is 55 percent lower than in 2001 and 32 percent lower than in 2013.

MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said, “It’s not a mystery — more cops, more enforcement, and more effective mental health outreach and treatment directly cuts down on transit crime. Now we need legal changes proposed by Gov. Hochul that will ensure recidivist criminals aren’t free to keep preying on subway riders.”

Governor’s Five Point Plan to Address Subway Safety

Governor Hochul’s five-point plan utilizes State resources to protect New Yorkers on the subways. This includes surging State personnel to assist NYPD bag checks, a program bill that permits transit bans for individuals that assault other passengers, the addition of new cameras to protect conductor cabins, increased coordination between District Attorneys and law enforcement and an increased number of Subway Co-Response Outreach (SCOUT) teams throughout the system — which operate in addition to the existing SOS teams. These actions build on the Governor’s unprecedented investment in safety on the subways, from standing up SOS teams to directing the MTA to install cameras in every subway car. Governor Hochul also called on judges to use their expanded discretion to set bail to keep repeat offenders off the streets.

Increasing Law Enforcement Presence Throughout the Transit System

Governor Hochul is working in partnership with New York City to increase New York Police Department (NYPD) presence on platforms and trains by temporarily surging patrol levels in addition to the National Guardsmen that have been re-deployed into the transit system. Approximately 750 NYPD officers will be stationed across New York City with an additional 300 in the train cars themselves. The increase in enforcement will prioritize 30 subways stations and transit hubs that account for 50 percent of crime in the transit system.

The Governor worked with New York City to increase police patrols on every overnight train for a six month time period. NYPD officers are working from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., and there are two uniformed officers onboard every subway train in service during those hours.

This expansion of law enforcement patrols builds on the Governor’s previous announcement in December 2024 to add an additional 250 members of the National Guard to support subway safety, bringing the total to 1,000 National Guardsmen stationed at subway entrances in points throughout New York City.

New Public Safety Resources To Protect Riders and Prevent Fare Evasion

Governor Hochul will provide the funding to install platform edge barriers at more than 100 additional stations by the end of 2025. The selection of stations for the installation process will prioritize feasibility, including stations with standard car-stopping positions in segments of the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, F, M and L trains. Among these train lines, stations with higher ridership levels and island platforms will be prioritized.

To address fare evasion, Governor Hochul will invest in modern fare gates in more than 20 stations across the system in 2025, and an additional 20 stations in 2026.

Additionally, exit gates will delay egress at 150 additional stations in an effort to reduce fare evasion. At the Governor’s direction, the MTA will prioritize stations with higher ridership traffic, accessibility features and those with high fare evasion. The piloted design used in the roll-out was solicited through the MTA’s “Request for Information” to qualify the next generation of fare gates across the system. Initial installation is scheduled to begin at 42 St-Port Authority, Delancey St-Essex St and Roosevelt Av-Jackson Heights.

The Governor will also provide funding to install LED lighting in all subway stations throughout the system which will increase visibility throughout the stations.

Expanding Mental Health Partnerships and Resources

Governor Hochul’s SOS initiative has successfully transitioned nearly 850 unhoused individuals into permanent housing and continues to make progress. SOS teams deployed across New York State often encounter individuals experiencing unmet medical and psychiatric needs. To address this gap, Governor Hochul is adding street medicine and street psychiatry providers to SOS teams statewide. These providers deliver timely care directly to individuals during outreach, improving access to psychiatric evaluations and medical treatment without requiring individuals to leave their belongings or seek care in hospitals. This approach is enhancing trust, building rapport and encouraging individuals to accept services and transition indoors, improving outcomes for New York’s most vulnerable residents.

Additionally — to further help reduce homelessness in the subway system — Governor Hochul is working with the NYC Department of Homeless Services to expand their 24/7 “Welcome Center” model near end-of-line stations and will create spaces within stations that have a large presence of unhoused people for our mobile outreach teams to better connect and coordinate services.

Governor Hochul previously announced a $20 million investment to expand the SCOUT Teams throughout the system to ten by the end of 2025, as a part of her five-point plan to protect New Yorkers on the subway. SCOUT teams are trained to address the most severe cases of mental health crisis within the subway system and assist New Yorkers in gaining access to mental health treatment and supportive housing.

The Governor has made strengthening New York State’s mental health system a priority of her administration, landing historic investments in housing for people with mental illness and directing a large increase in inpatient psychiatric bed capacity at state-operated and community-based hospital systems. In addition, her initiatives have broadened prevention services, improved insurance coverage and expanded outpatient services for people with mental illness.