Crime down from last year, but city increasing cops on NYC's subways, streets
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- The New York City mayor and police commissioner said Monday it's not the fight against crime that they are losing -- they say it's the perception battle of how people feel -- and they have a new strategy.
It comes as the MTA hopes congestion pricing will push more people to use mass transit, but riders have reservations after a spate of violence underground.
At the start of congestion pricing, crime on the New York City subways is down 5.4% from a year ago, though "people don't feel safe on the subway," Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch conceded Monday, a sentiment echoed by Mayor Eric Adams
"Perception always overrides reality," Adams said. "The average New Yorker would believe they're living in a city that is out of control. That is not the reality."
Adams says New Yorkers shouldn't allow the latest headline-grabbing subway assaults to fool them.
The drop in transit crime coincides with an overall 2.9% drop in crime in 2024, including murders and shootings.
"The crime reductions we saw last year were achieved against all odds and are attributable to the hard work and grit of our cops," Tisch said.
Robbery is down 16.3%, burglary is down 23.5%, and grand larceny is down 3.3%.
However, murders on the subway doubled last year, with 10 compared to five last year. Petit larceny is also up 29.8%
Increases in felony assaults the police commissioner attributed to repeat offenders. She called it "disheartening" for police officers to be arresting the same people over and over again due to an increase in the number of decline-to-prosecute cases and a decrease in the number of defendants for whom bail is set.
Crime in the subway system is also down when compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Major crime on the subway is down 12.7% from 2019, however, felony assaults are up 51.6%.
And homicides in 2024 were up 233.3% compared to homicides to 2019, which was a historically low year for homicides in New York City.
Tisch said the NYPD isn't backing down in its fight against crime.
"Effective this week, I've directed that we move more than 200 officers onto the trains to do specialty train patrols, and I have further directed that we deploy more officers onto subway platforms in the 50 highest crime stations in the city," she said.
The commissioner says it's all about where the officers will be deployed. According to the NYPD 78% of subway crime occurs on trains and on platforms.
"So that's where the majority of our cops need to be, not in the mezzanines, not at the entrances, that's not to say that we won't have cops in the mezzanines and entrances, but we need our cops assigned where the crime is occurring," Tisch said.
When it comes to perception vs. reality, Tisch said she understands where New Yorkers are coming from.
"There are no mental gymnastics required here when you see toothpaste behind lock and key at a local pharmacy, or public urination or people shooting up on the corner with impunity. It doesn't have to be this way. New Yorkers demand and deserve better," she said.
Starting Tuesday, 624 additional police officers will hit the streets. Tisch added that later this month, a new class of some 1,000 recruits will enter the police academy.
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