MTA executives politely pushed again Wednesday in opposition to the federal transportation chief who branded the subway a crime-ridden “sh-thole” whereas threatening to withhold billions of {dollars} in funding.
Utilizing what MTA chairperson and CEO Janno Lieber labeled a “professional, fact-based approach,” transit officers highlighted throughout their month-to-month board assembly how the greater than 2,200 felonies within the subway system final 12 months have been down 64% from 1997 — when there have been greater than 6,000 felonies or a mean of 17 a day.
The 2024 subway crime totals sank to their lowest stage in 15 years, officers stated, even whereas acknowledging that assaults have shot up 55% since 2019.
Virtually a 3rd of these have been assaults in opposition to cops, in keeping with officers.
“The most frequent felony assault in the system is ‘stopped for fare evasion, hit the cop,’” Lieber stated.
The MTA boss repeatedly used the phrase “rhetoric” to explain current jabs at New York from President Donald Trump and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy over subway crime and congestion pricing, whereas emphasizing that the 2 sides will ultimately have to seek out frequent floor.
The presentation from a number of prime MTA officers preceded the company’s formal response to the federal authorities, officers stated.
“The facts do matter and you’re not going to mess with our six million riders just as a political game,” Lieber stated. “We have to be clear that the riders are depending on us and they’re depending on the federal government to treat them fairly and based on facts.”
Duffy final week threatened to withhold federal funding from the MTA except the company addresses its efforts on crime within the subway and gives numbers — lots of that are already publicly obtainable — on assaults, police staffing ranges and subway browsing.
He then adopted up by trashing the subway and saying issues could possibly be fastened “in hours, not days,” by Gov. Kathy Hochul. He continued with a social media put up that known as the MTA’s funding requests “outrageous,” including that “the federal government is not a blank check.”
“If you want people to take the train, to take transit, then make it safe, make it beautiful, make it wonderful,” Duffy, a New Jersey resident, stated Saturday. “Don’t make it a sh-thole, which is what she [Hochul] has done.”
In a press release Wednesday night, a USDOT spokesperson stated, “New Yorkers don’t feel safe and who can blame them?” The assertion cited the December demise of a girl who was set on hearth whereas sleeping on a prepare in Coney Island, and talked about “routine sexual harassment, regular beatings and multiple stabbings.”
“The MTA can try and gaslight the American people, but attacks like these make every passenger fear becoming the next victim,” the assertion learn. “It should have never gotten to this point for the governor and the MTA to crack down on crime.”
‘Not Out to Make Enemies’
MTA officers earlier on Wednesday delivered an in depth response on the company’s month-to-month board assembly, stating how the town’s general crime fee is barely pushed by what’s occurring on trains and in stations and extra in step with small cities like West Palm Seaside, Fla. and Columbus, Ohio — and effectively beneath Memphis, Houston and Washington D.C.
“Very important to note: less than 2% of all overall crime recorded in New York City occurs in the subway system,” stated the MTA’s chief safety officer, Michael Kemper, a 33-year NYPD veteran who beforehand led the division’s Transit Bureau.
He and different transit officers have repeatedly made the case that the subway system is battling notion versus actuality with regards to security, whereas Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams have repeatedly positioned extra police in stations and on trains.
“I am the first to say that we have a way to go before riders are truly as safe as they ought to be and feel as safe as they ought to be,” Lieber stated. “But the stats don’t lie — progress has been made.”
On a number of events throughout Wednesday’s assembly, Lieber prolonged an olive department towards Duffy, saying the MTA has” an excellent story to inform” and that he could be “happy to speak with him.”
MTA head Janno Lieber speaks at a board assembly within the company’s Decrease Manhattan headquarters, March 26, 2025. Credit score: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY
“We are not out to make any enemies, we’re literally in the bridges business,” he stated. “This MTA looks forward — when the dust settles, we are going to have to work with Washington on fact-based solutions to the challenges we face.”
The back-and-forth over subway crime follows earlier efforts by the Trump administration to kill the congestion pricing program that began Jan. 5. Duffy final week prolonged a March 21 shutdown deadline for the Manhattan vehicle-tolling initiative by 30 days.
The tolls have been hailed for cross-river commutes, rushing buses and different journeys whereas offering a option to fund the MTA’s $50 billion 2020 to 2024 capital plan.
The potential finish of congestion pricing and federal funding cuts over subway crime may carry grave penalties for the way forward for the transit system.
“I am concerned that instead of being treated as a serious and bipartisan issue, as it always has been, it’s being treated like it’s just another political football,” Lieber stated. “I hope that we’ll get past that.
“We’ll give [Duffy] a full answer to his questions, but we need to come back to reality, how important this is,” he added. “This is not a game.”
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