Crime on MTA subways on track to reach lowest levels in more than a decade

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that the New York City subway is on track for its safest year in more than a decade. As 2025 nears a close, subway crime is at the lowest level in 16 years. The agency reports that overall major crime in the transit system is down 5.2% from 2024 and 14.4% from 2019. 

Accounting for increases in ridership, there have been 1.65 major crimes per million riders in 2025, down roughly 30% from 2021 and comparable to pre-pandemic lows. In 2022, Gov. Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams made a combined commitment to keep subway riders safe, and in each of the subsequent four years, the rate of crime per rider has fallen. MTA notes this year is on pace to be the second safest non-pandemic year in the subway system in recorded history, surpassed only by 2009.

“Crime is down and ridership is up on subways thanks to major investments to keep New Yorkers safe and run better, more reliable transit,” Gov. Hochul said. “By supporting transformational safety and mental health programs and upgrading transit service and infrastructure, we’re making our subways safer for millions of daily riders and tens of thousands of transit workers. I am deeply grateful for the work of the men and women at the NYPD who keep riders safe and remain committed to advancing public safety efforts that have successfully driven down crime on subways across New York City.” 

This historic reduction in crime comes as subway ridership continues to climb. On Thursday, Dec. 11, the subway broke its post-pandemic ridership record for the third time in two weeks, hosting 4.654 million customers. Subway ridership is up nearly 8% this year, with over 1.2 billion rides taken to date. Gov. Hochul also announced a continued commitment to further safety investments in 2026, including through funding with an additional $77 million for enhanced NYPD subway patrols.

“This has been the most consequential year in the history of the MTA for many reasons — surging ridership and customer satisfaction and our historic capital plan, but nothing is more important than safety,” said Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Chair and CEO Janno Lieber. “I want to thank Gov. Hochul, Commissioner Tisch, the NYPD and MTA PD for the progress we've seen and look forward to more in the year to come.”

From combined efforts from the NYPD, MTA Police Department and other partners, transit crime has declined in 2025. Crime was down nearly 11% from 2024 levels over the summer. Felony assaults have decreased in the second half of 2025 as well, with the rate of assault incidents down 16% from 2024. In November, assaults were down 25% compared to the same month last year. 

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

“New Yorkers aren’t just safer on our subways now than they’ve been in years — they’re feeling safer, too,” Tisch said. “This isn’t by accident, it is the result of our transit safety plan — the precision deployment of cops to the platforms and trains where the majority of crime actually occurs, and the men and women of the NYPD who effectively execute this plan. Major crime is down across the subways, and the last five months combined have been the safest in recorded history on the subway outside of the pandemic years. None of this happens without the support of Gov. Hochul and Mayor Adams, and this new investment will allow us to continue driving down crime in our transit system.”

This enhanced deployment followed the joint commitment of Gov. Hochul and Mayor Adams to keep subway riders safe. In 2022, the governor and mayor partnered for 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 worked to improve the city and state responses to mental health crises in the subway. Since the launch of this initiative, the rate of crime per rider is down nearly 30%.

Gov. Hochul also has provided 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. 

Gov. Hochul has also directed the MTA to make improvements to the physical station environment to improve safety. In her 2025 State of the State address, Gov. Hochul challenged the MTA to accelerate the installation of platform edge barriers at an additional 100 stations and complete the installation of brighter LED lighting in all 472 subway stations by the end of the year. As the year ends, 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 in the final weeks of the year at Times Sqaure-42 Street.

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

Investments in transit safety made under Gov. Hochul’s leadership include: 

• $20 million to fully fund 10 SCOUT teams to provide a clinician-first response to severe mental illness in the subway. 
• 32,000 security cameras in the New York City Subway system, including over 17,000 on all 6,000 subway cars at Gov. Hochul’s direction and over 15,000 in stations. 
• New platform barriers installed at 115 subway stations, with the MTA exceeding the goal of 100 made in Gov. Hochul’s 2025 State of the State. 
• Brighter and safer LED lights in over 450 subway stations, on pace for all 472 by the end of 2025. 
• Established two Transition to Home Units (THUs) at Manhattan Psychiatric Center, creating 50 beds to support homeless individuals with severe mental illness. 
• Improved coordination between law enforcement and district attorneys via a new MTA Criminal Justice Advocate.
• Installing cameras in the conductor cabs of subway trains to keep MTA employees safe.