New York City subways have seen a slight dip in crime since cops began patrolling the trains overnight earlier this year, data shows.
Crime in the system was down 7% between Jan. 20 — when the nighttime patrols began — and March 16, compared to the same time frame last year, according to NYPD statistics.
Mayor Eric Adams touted the overall reduction in subway mayhem since the beginning of the year, tipping his hat to the new policing effort for driving down the trend.
“In partnership with the governor, the NYPD began to put police officers on every train during overnight hours, seven days per week since January, and thanks in part to those efforts, subway crime is down 28%,” Adams told reporters Thursday, citing data showing a major downturn between January and February compared to those two months in 2024.
“We are talking about record lows in subway crime that follow two straight years of index crime declines in the system. Two straight years,” he said at a press conference highlighting mental health initiatives underground.
NYPD stats show crime on the subways was down just under 22% from Jan. 1 through Monday, compared to last year. It was down nearly 13% from 2023.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch deployed the extra cops to ride the trains with the support of Gov. Kathy Hochul, who offered the city additional funds to flood the transit system from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. each night.
Straphangers told The Post they’ve noticed the uptick in officers on the subways — but were unsure how productive the strategy was with nowhere near enough cops to cover the hundreds of train cars.
“You see them patrolling the cars at night, and I guess there’s some security in knowing they’re there,” said 23-year-old Damerae Beckford.
“But the problem is it’s usually just a couple of cops and the trains have eight cars, and most of the s–t you see happens so fast that if the cops aren’t right there at that second, it’s too late. But the city can’t afford to assign a cop to each car, either, because that would take up the entire police force.
“It’s good that they assign who they can spare,” he continued, adding, “I just don’t know if it’s that effective.”
Joey Cruz, an Astoria businessowner who lives in Manhattan and rides the subway as late as midnight, said he was relieved to see cops on the trains.
“I feel better when I see the cops, especially when I’m on the train at midnight,” Cruz, 61, told The Post from the Port Authority.
“When I see their presence, whether on the train or on the platform, it makes me feel safer,” he added. “But I still look around because you can never be too careful.
“They make a difference just by being there, I can see that.”
Another rider, Jayden Pugh, 26, said he’s only seen the patrols “sporadically.”
“I see the cops some nights, I don’t see them other nights,” he said.
“I’m sure they’re down there if that’s what they’re assigned to do, but there’s just so many more subway cars than cops,” Pugh said. “You can slash a guy in the face and be off and running and a cop is never gonna catch you unless he just happened to be there.
“They need to figure out how to get these bad people off the trains to begin with. Assigning more cops is just putting a Band-Aid on the problem.”
— Additional reporting by Georgett Roberts
