Subway crime is down 21.5 per cent from last year

The Big Apple may finally turn a corner as subway crime plunged to levels not seen in decades, aside from the height of the pandemic.

The New York Police Department announced on Tuesday that subway crime is down 21.5 per cent from last year after Mayor Eric Adams ordered more cops to patrol the underground transit system.

In just the first nine weeks of 2023, authorities say, cops doled out nearly 10,000 more summonses than at the start of the last year.

Every category of serious felonies is now down, except for burglaries, which remained flat, with two reported so far this year.

Those are the lowest levels of felony crime on the subways dating back to the beginning of the data-collecting Compstat system in the mid-1990s, the New York Post reports, excluding the kickoff of 2021 when the COVID pandemic hit.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Transit Chief Michael Kemper said, “Obviously, crime is down; we’re proud.

This is real progress.” He credited proactive policing on minor offences as well as serious crimes.

Data released by the NYPD shows cops have issued 75.6 per cent more fare-evasion tickets over the first nine weeks of 2023, totalling 21,360, compared to 12,154 tickets issued over the same period last year.

All summonses were up by more than 12,000 — or an 83.5 per cent increase from last year.

Before the increase in police presence in the subway systems in October, crime was up more than 40 per cent for the year. In January 2022, Mayor Adams introduced his ‘subway safety plan,’ which put more than 1,000 extra cups daily in the city’s subways.

Governor Kathy Hochul announced in September an initiative to install two cameras in every subway car by 2024, as well as a “significant” investment from the state’s emergency fund to support an increase of around 1,200 overtime officer shifts on subway platforms and trains each day.

Additionally, the governor said the transit authority would employ unarmed security guards at turnstiles to increase the security presence and deter fare evasion.

Hochul said at an October news conference, “We have a crime-fighting strategy. We’ve leaned into proven law enforcement strategies, investing in new technologies that will make a difference. And we’re providing New Yorkers with the support and the help they need.”

She also cited the efforts of officers catching criminals before committing repeat crimes, as well as the increased police presence to deter crime as factors contributing to the recent progress.