Mayor Adams, transit chief reveal subway safety plan

NEW YORK (PIX11) – Commuters can expect to see more NYPD officers patrolling subway stations and checkpoints for baggage screenings as the city responds to a recent spike in violence on trains, Mayor Eric Adams and Chief of Transit Michael Kemper said.

Crime in the subways was down 15% in February compared to January, according to Adams.

"There will be bumps from time to time," Adams said, "but we're focused on our 4 million riders. Plus, we want them to know it's a safe system."

Adams pointed out that 38 people were arrested for assaulting MTA employees in 2023. The 38 suspects have a total of 1,126 arrests in New York City, Adams said.

In addition, 542 people arrested in 2023 for shoplifting allegedly committed over 7,600 crimes in New York City, according to Adams. He said the city is dealing with recidivism – where a convicted criminal continues to commit crimes.

"We're doing our job," Adams said. "We need to do an analysis of the entire criminal justice system to make sure every aspect of it is doing its job. You can't have 38 people that committed 1,126 crimes in our city back on our streets."

Adams said Gov. Kathy Hochul has been an "amazing partner" in addressing the violence on New York City subways.

Hochul is expected to announce that the state will be stepping in to help the NYPD in subways.

PIX11 Morning News anchor Hazel Sanchez asked the mayor what is being done in the present to prevent these crimes from happening.

"We're doing a combination of things," Adams said. "We put 1,000 uniformed members [of the NYPD] in the subway system after we saw the spike going in the month of January. We saw results of that."

Adams also encouraged people to be more aware of their surroundings while riding on subways.

Kemper spoke about the cameras in subway stations and whether they deter people from committing crimes.

"Those cameras hold tremendous value," Kemper said. "And they're all throughout the subway system. Literally, thousands of cameras. Those cameras are a deterrent."

Kemper said having NYPD officers in the subway system is also a deterrent.

"Our cops are visible, they're riding trains, they're standing on platforms, they're at the turnstiles," Kemper said. "We have plain clothes cops all throughout the subway system in every borough 24 hours a day."