NYPD releases new transit crime data as patrols increase

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- There was another violent attack on Tuesday afternoon on the subway, as NYPD crime statistics report year to date transit felonies are down 1.5 percent and assaults are down 5.5 percent.

A 27-year-old man was stabbed in the stomach just after noon on a southbound No. 4 train at the Wall Street station.

He is in the hospital in stable condition and the suspect cops say may have been a robber.

Robberies on transit are up 15 percent so far this year, even though cops are stepping up patrols in the transit system.

"My own family takes the subway every single day and coworkers, I listen to them. And that gives me a good sense of where and where we need to go and where we need to improve," NYPD Chief of Transit Joseph Gulotta said.

Although transit felonies and assaults are down, robberies are up this year, increasing to 136 compared to 118 this time last year.

Chief Gulotta attributes that rise to the unusually cold weather this winter, but the NYPD is adding an additional 175 officers underground, on top of the 750 added by the Governor.

"You can see our officers on the trains inspecting trains, riding the trains. That's the key. We want to make sure we have officers on the train where we need them, where the crimes are occurring," Gulotta said.

Crime statistics also show there have been three murders so far this year, compared to none at the start of 2025.

On Saturday, police shot and killed a machete-wielding man on a subway platform at Grand Central Terminal after he stabbed three people, and called himself "Lucifer."

"When you see that, it really is an upsetting crime. But when you look at how we deployed and how we've looked at crime, our officers were right right there," Gulotta said.

But still, a story like that understandably scares some riders, particularly those who experience day-to-day discomfort on trains.

"They told me if I felt safe when they saw people stretched out along three seats. Loud music, smoking. The general sense of lawlessness that was going on in the subway. So that's one of the things we've really worked on," Gulotta said.

Police say 2025 was the safest year on the subways since 2009 and hope to continue that trend this year with this further deployment of officers. The NYPD acknowledges that the perception of safety is just as important as the reality of it.

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