How low was subway crime in 2025?

Per the MTA and NYPD, overall major transit crime in 2025 was the lowest in 16 years — down 5.2% from 2024 and 14.4% from 2019. Adjusted for ridership, there were about 1.65 major crimes per million riders, comparable to pre-pandemic lows.

What is the $77 million for?

Governor Hochul committed an additional $77 million in 2026 for enhanced NYPD subway patrols, continuing a program that has placed officers on overnight trains and added platform barriers and fare-gate upgrades.

Did crime go back up in 2026?

NYPD data showed major transit felonies rose 6.1% in January 2026 versus January 2025 — 174 major crimes versus 164 — even as transit arrests and summonses fell.

Subway Crime Hit a 16-Year Low in 2025

Subway crime fell to its lowest level in 16 years in 2025, Governor Kathy Hochul announced on Dec. 18, 2025, even as she committed another $77 million to keep police on the trains — a figure the new year quickly complicated when January numbers ticked back up.

Hochul made the announcement alongside NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber. With two weeks left in the year, overall major crime in the transit system was down 5.2% from 2024 and 14.4% from 2019, the MTA and NYPD said.

The 2025 picture

Adjusting for a rebound in ridership, the system recorded about 1.65 major crimes per million riders in 2025 — roughly 30% below 2021 and comparable to pre-pandemic lows. Officials said the year was on pace to be the second-safest non-pandemic year in the subway’s recorded history, behind only 2009.

The state credits a package of safety measures rolled out over the prior two years: a first-of-its-kind collaboration funded with an earlier $77 million that put officers on overnight subway trains (two uniformed officers on every train from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.), the installation of platform barriers, and the rollout of upgraded fare gates aimed at fare evasion. The new $77 million for 2026 extends the patrol program.

January’s reversal

The good-news framing ran into harder numbers almost immediately. Per the NYPD, major transit felonies rose 6.1% in January 2026 compared with January 2025 — 174 major crimes including rape, robbery and felony assault, up from 164 a year earlier.

Notably, the uptick came as enforcement eased: police made about 2,785 transit arrests in January 2026, down from over 2,800 the prior January, and Transit Adjudication Bureau summonses for offenses like turnstile-jumping and smoking fell 15.6%. The divergence — fewer arrests, more reported crime — became an early flashpoint in debates over the Mamdani administration’s approach to subway policing.

Fare evasion and OMNY

Fare evasion remained a parallel concern. The MTA reported subway fare-beating fell from about 14% to 10% over the second half of 2024, helped by new fare-gate designs, and of roughly 34,559 total subway offenses logged in 2025, about 13,725 were fare-evasion related. The agency is leaning on the OMNY tap-to-pay system and hardened fare gates — both funded in part by the capital program — to chip away at lost revenue without flooding stations with summonses.

Why it matters

Public confidence in the subway tracks closely with how safe riders feel, and ridership recovery is central to the MTA’s finances. The 2025 figures gave the agency its strongest safety story in years; the January reversal is a reminder that the trend is fragile and that the politics of who polices the platforms — and how — remain unsettled under a new mayor.

Verification

2025 subway crime lowest in 16 years; down 5.2% from 2024; $77M for 2026 patrols; announced Dec. 18, 2025 with Tisch and Lieber — Governor Hochul press release
$77 million commitment and second-safest-non-pandemic-year framing — amNewYork
January 2026 major transit felonies up 6.1% (174 vs 164); arrests and summonses down — amNewYork
Fare evasion fell from 14% to 10%; 2025 fare-evasion offense counts — NYPD subway fare-evasion reports
Transit felonies/assaults down, robberies up amid expanded patrols — ABC7 New York

Frequently Asked Questions

How low was subway crime in 2025?: Per the MTA and NYPD, overall major transit crime in 2025 was the lowest in 16 years — down 5.2% from 2024 and 14.4% from 2019. Adjusted for ridership, there were about 1.65 major crimes per million riders, comparable to pre-pandemic lows.
What is the $77 million for?: Governor Hochul committed an additional $77 million in 2026 for enhanced NYPD subway patrols, continuing a program that has placed officers on overnight trains and added platform barriers and fare-gate upgrades.
Did crime go back up in 2026?: NYPD data showed major transit felonies rose 6.1% in January 2026 versus January 2025 — 174 major crimes versus 164 — even as transit arrests and summonses fell.
Who announced the 2025 figures?: Governor Kathy Hochul, alongside NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber, on Dec. 18, 2025.