New York City Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban announced Wednesday that the city saw continued reductions in overall crime through the first quarter of 2024, both above ground, on streets throughout the five boroughs, and below ground.
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Felony assaults were up 5.5% in March while most other major crimes were down.
On the subways, crime was down more than 23% in March, which police attributed to the surge of 1,000 officers into the system. Since the start of 2024, overall arrests in the subway system are up almost 53% compared to last year, including an 83% increase in gun arrests and a nearly 80% jump in fare-evasion arrests.
"There cannot be a sense of lawlessness in the subway system, and it begins at the turnstiles," said Caban.
Adams said the subway is the safest it has been since he took office. He said the single month of March 2024, compared to the same month last year, experienced drastic crime declines.
However, recent attacks, especially on the subway system, have many New Yorkers on edge.
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Police say this past Sunday, a 48-year-old man was on board a No. 2 train at the 96th Street station when someone pulled a knife on him. The suspect used anti-ethnic slurs toward the victim and demanded his money.
Officials released a photo of the man they believe was responsible for that attack. Cops say the suspect is about 5'9 has a medium build, and was last seen wearing a yellow jacket, green shirt, sneakers, and dark-colored pants.
News of this attack came right before Adams' ride along with some high-ranking members of leadership from the NYPD. From January through March of this year, transit crime went down about one percent compared to the same time in 2023.
The mayor recounted a story of a woman who recently asked how he plans to combat the issue of subway crime.
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"I said, 'Ma'am, let me ask you the question differently. What are we going to do?'" the mayor said. "'How about you getting a group of your friends, these young thoughtful young people who are energetic, who are smart. How about coming out one day, walking with us, and interacting with these people who live on the subway system?'"
Adams believes things underground are much better now from when he took office, a little over two years ago, and MTA officials gave him credit for the drop in crime.
"Millions of New Yorkers depend on mass transit. The system needs to be safe - and feel safe - for them, and thanks to increased deployments from Mayor Adams and smart policing from Commissioner Caban and the NYPD, 2024 subway crime is now below 2023 levels, and even lower than pre-pandemic," said MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber.
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