Subway crime drops to lowest level in 16 years, Hochul says, while committing another $77 million for NYPD patrols – amNewYork
Gov. Kathy Hochul (center), announces lowest crime on the subways in 16 years alongside NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber. Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025.
Photo courtesy of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Thursday that subway crime has dropped to its lowest level in 16 years while also committing another $77 million toward keeping an increased police presence on the system through next year.
The governor said crime on the rails has dropped by nearly 15% since 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, and that 2025 is on track to be the second safest non-pandemic year on record for the city’s system on record, behind only 2009, She unveiled the news alongside MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch during a Dec. 18 news conference at Grand Central Station.
The police commissioner stated that transit crime decreased by nearly 25% in November compared to the same period last year, a figure the NYPD disclosed at the MTA board’s committee meetings on Monday. Furthermore, she said the last five months combined were the safest in subway history, excluding the pandemic years, when ridership was far lower than average.
“New Yorkers are safer on our subways now than they have been in years,” Tisch said.
The transit system also experienced a 5.2% decrease in crime over the past 11 months, compared to the same period in 2024, the NYPD and MTA announced.
Hochul — who is running for reelection in the new year — claimed the many efforts her administration, the MTA, and the city have undertaken to make the transit system safer during her tenure have paid off.
Perhaps the most direct intervention from Hochul has been her direction to allocate tens of millions of dollars of state funding to cover NYPD overtime expenses; this has enabled the department to have more officers patrolling the subways over the past year.
Other measures the governor directed through the MTA include installing security cameras throughout the system, outfitting stations with brighter LED lighting, and adding platform barriers to over 100 stations.
Hochul said those measures not only make straphangers safer, but also help them feel more at ease while using the subways.
“We know these efforts are working, the numbers speak for themselves,” Hochul said. “I will always stand here and say, one crime is one too many. This is not a celebration moment, but is a continuation of what we know is working. Because every headline, every story, every time there’s even one incident, it does create that sense of insecurity, which we want to alleviate.”
To that end, Hochul said her forthcoming executive budget proposal, to be released next month, will include an additional $77 million to cover increased police overtime resulting from the deployment of around 600 officers throughout the system each day. That is the same amount Hochul allocated in the current state budget, she said.
Tisch said the continued funding is a “significant step forward.”
“The funding that the governor has committed enables the NYPD to maintain the deployments that have completely shifted the public safety narrative on our subways,” Tisch said. “Hundreds of additional officers will be sent throughout the system each day, and they’ll continue doing the work that has driven subway crime and disorder down to record lows.”
Asked whether Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani supports continuing to deploy elevated levels of police on the subways, Tisch did not directly address where he stands on the issue.
“I’ve had a number of great conversations, both with the mayor-elect and his team,” Tisch said. “What I can tell you is both the mayor-elect and his team are committed to public safety and are very pleased with the results that they’re seeing.”
