Eric Adams and Katie Hochul say NYC subways are safer since anti-crime plan launched

Subway crime rates in the Big Apple have dropped since the launch of the new safety plan in October, Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Katie Hochul announced Friday.

During a joint speech at the Fulton Transit Center in Lower Manhattan, officials released NYPD data showing subway crime now occurs at a rate of 1.7 incidents per 1 million passengers, compared to 2.3 incidents in 2021 and 2022. years.

This is currently at nearly the same level of 1.5 incidents per 1 million passengers before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which passenger traffic plummeted and crime rose to 2.8 per 1 million.

Adams, who said earlier this week that hangers are enjoying a “cleaner” and “safer” ride on the subway, noted the “Cops, Cameras and Care” program he and Hochul introduced in late October and thanked the governor for her help in paying. .

“When we had a fire in our subway system, we had to deal with that fire, and that’s what the governor and I said,” he said.

Adams, a former NYPD transit cop, also said “we’re going to keep changing and changing” to further reduce crime.

Hochul said $62 million was spent on 1,200 daily overtime shifts for NYPD and MTA police officers, a key component of the program.

Adams dodged a reporter’s question about how much the program cost the city, saying that the Office of Management and Budget would “give you the exact numbers.”

But he defended the spending as vital to the Big Apple.

“I hear all the time, ‘Well, how much does it cost?’,” he said. “I want to be clear: public safety has no price.”

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Adams also called the subway system “the blood of our city”.

“If people don’t use this system, it will affect the business. This will affect tourism. This will affect the ability to function and damage our economy,” he said.

“It’s the price tag that’s important to me. This system will be secure, functional and free of the clutter that we have inherited in 2022.”

Adams also compared the results of the crime-fighting program to those of his controversial plan to crack down on rule breaking and remove homeless people from the subway.

“It took several months to rid our systems of the camps. It took several months for 3,000 people to find safe shelter and supportive housing,” he said.

“We know that there are long-term things we need to do. But as mayor and governor, we have to deal with immediate fire right now while we work on the long term plan.”

Adams added: “Here’s how we work: let’s get the immediate out of the way and then build the long term.”