Trump administration threatens to pull MTA funding if agency does not provide crime stats
NEW YORK (WABC) -- The Trump administration is threatening to pull federal funding from the MTA unless the transit agency provides data on subway crime by the end of the month.
The Trump administration penned a letter to the MTA on Tuesday, saying threats to public safety on the nation's largest transit agency are unacceptable - and warned it would take away federal funding if it's not addressed.
The agency receives billions from the federal government and those funds account for a portion of the fiscal budget.
Between 2020 and 2024, the MTA received around $13 billion dollars from the government.
In a letter to transit CEO Janno Lieber, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says commuters are sick of jeopardizing their safety to travel around the city, and that if the MTA doesn't do anything to fix certain problems, the Federal Transit Administration would take enforcement actions such as redirecting or withholding federal funding.
Specifically, the letter asks the MTA to do the following:
- Share plans to reduce crime, including assaults on customers
- Address violence against transit workers
- Reduce injuries and fatalities from dangerous activities
- Deter fare evasion
MTA Chairman Janno Lieber says the facts speak for themselves.
"I feel like the kid who gets called on by the teacher when you've actually done your homework," he said. "We've done so much to improve subway safety."
The overall crime rate in the subway is now the lowest it's been since the pandemic, and lower than it was at any time before the pandemic.
Subway crime is down 22% so far this year, and down 19% since 2019. The only major category where crime is up is felony assaults, which are down in 2025, but are up 49% since 2019.
That's why NYPD commanders have flooded the system with hundreds of police officers in recent months, and why Mayor Eric Adams has launched a series of initiatives to remove unstable, mentally-ill people from the subway.
But President Donald Trump is apparently unconvinced, blasting the MTA in a speech last week.
"Women can't ride the subway without worrying that a hoodlum will shove them onto the train tracks," he said.
MTA to defy Trump administration on congestion pricing
This all comes amid a battle between the MTA and the federal government over New York City's congestion pricing toll.
The Trump administration is attempting to kill the toll program with a deadline of this Friday to end it, but the state is suing and doesn't plan to stop collecting the much-needed fees from drivers.
"Within minutes of receiving that letter, our MTA filed a lawsuit," Gov. Kathy Hochul said at the time the Trump administration moved to kill the toll last month. "And let me be clear-the cameras are staying on. The tolls are staying on."
The "switch" is actually controlled by MTA engineers, and agency officials insist that it would take a court order to "switch off" congestion pricing.
"The deadline will come and go," Lieber said.
He is confident that the deadline will change nothing.
"Things don't change until a court orders it-and that's not yet taken place and we don't expect it will because we're pretty strong legal footing," Lieber said.
The latest Siena Poll indicates that most city residents prefer congestion pricing. Statewide, 40% oppose it, and just 33% want to keep it.
But support is growing. Travel times are up on the river crossings and through the congestion zone. Noise complaints are down, and millions of dollars are being raised to upgrade the transit system.
A new study indicates that fears about the impact of congestion pricing may be unfounded. Truck traffic through Staten Island and over the Verrazano Bridge has not increased. There are no increases either on the Cross-Bronx Expressway off the George Washington Bridge.
The study was commissioned by former Traffic Commissioner Sam Schwartz.
"We found virtually no change," Schwartz said. "Same number of trucks before and after, even a little less in the Bronx, a tiny bit more on Staten Island, but no real change that would indicate that truckers are changing their behavior."
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