MTA Finds Police in Only 14% of NYC Subway Stations, Despite 68% Increase in Assaults

By Yehudit Garmaise

     The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has observed that police officers are seen in only 14% of subway stations, while, at the same time, the NYPD Transit Bureau will report today a 68% in felony assaults in the subway system in April.

     Last week, after a series of violent crimes in subways throughout the pandemic left many residents fearful about taking public transportation, Mayor Bill de Blasio finally relented, after insisting for months that the subway is "safer than it has been in years," when he announced that the NYPD would provide an additional 250 officers, adding to the 500 officers the city sent in February.

    The MTA, however, is wondering where those supplemental police officers are after data from a study the agency conducted reveals that most subway stations had little or no police presence in the past few weeks.

     MTA employees reported seeing a police presence in just 14%, on average, of the 2,928 stations they visited between May 12 and 24, according to MTA data.

     On May 13, MTA employers observed police officers at only 1% of stations visited on May 13, and on May 21, observers noticed a police presence at 31% of the city’s subway stations.

     “There are times where we’ve had more and there have been times where we had less,” said NYPD Police Commissioner Dermot Shea, who reassured that he understands that New Yorkers want to see more officers and that seeing uniformed police officers makes people feel safer.

    “Subways are cleaner than they have been in years, and they are working better, but they are not as safe,” said Gov. Andrew Cuomo today in a press conference when he mentioned the MTA’s study. “New Yorkers don’t feel safe.

   “They are not being neurotic or overly sensitive. They are right.”

   The answer, the governor said, is not only more police. Fewer New Yorkers trust the NYPD than they used to, he claimed.

   “The answer is that you have to reform policing in a way that restores trust with the community,” the governor said.