NEW YORK — Platform barriers have now been installed at 115 subway stations, and installation of brighter LED lighting in all 472 stations is to be completed by the end of the year, New York City and state officials said at a press conference today addressing progress in reducing subway crime.
At the event, featuring Gov. Kathy Hochul, Mayor Eric Adams, and Metropolitan Transportation Authority leaders, officials said that with two weeks left in the year, subway crime is at its lowest level in 16 years, with overall major crime down 5.2% from 2024 and 14.4% from 2019.
The improvements come after the state allocated $77 million earlier this year for a collaboration with the New York Police Department to increase the police presence in the subway system; Hochul and NYPD Police Commissioner Jesica Tisch announced at the press conference that the state would provide another $77 million to continue increased police patrols into 2026.
“I am deeply grateful for the work of the men and women at the NYPD who keep riders safe,” Hochul said in a press release, “and remain committed to advancing public safety efforts that have successfully driven down crime on subways across New York City.”
Another $20 million is funding an initiative to address severe mental illness in the subway system; that initiative has led to more than 900 referrals, more than 300 of them involuntary, and more than 7,500 nights of hospital care.
The platform edge barrier program, which began with a three-station trial announced in 2022 [see “New York to try platform barriers …,” Trains.com, Feb. 24, 2025], has seen barriers installed at 101 stations this year.
The improved crime statistics have come during a year that has seen subway ridership increase by nearly 8%, with over 1.2 billion rides to date, the MTA says.
“This has been the most consequential year in the history of the MTA for many reasons — surging ridership and customer satisfaction and our historic capital plan,” said MTA CEO Janno Lieber, “but nothing is more important than safety.”
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Take the decrease in crime statistics with a lot of suspicion. These people have a lot of incentive to skew the figures in their favor. If a crime happens and the state doesn’t prosecute then it isn’t recorded as a crime. And if the judge just releases the criminal it doesn’t count as a crime. In our liberal judicial system, it is hard to find true crime statistics with the way Dems keep the books.
No one with a brain believes that crime is decreasing.
In Milwaukee County you just about have to kill someone to be counted as a criminal.
These platform barriers are a puzzle. They often line up with opening doors. They do not prevent a person falling onto or being pushed. They are sturdy, well anchored, and well constructed with high quality steel. But??
These so-called barriers are nothing like the actual barriers in new computer-controlled systems where the doors of the stopped train line up with the doors on the platform. This is an expensive gimmick.
Throw the criminals in jail and leave them there until they die. That’s how to make the subways safe.