Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that the New York City Subway is on track for its safest year in a generation.
With two weeks left in 2025, subway crime is at the lowest level in 16 years: overall major crime in the transit system is down 5.2 percent from 2024 and 14.4 percent from 2019. Accounting for increases in ridership, there have been 1.65 major crimes per million riders in 2025, down roughly 30 percent from 2021 and comparable to pre-pandemic lows. In 2022, Governor Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams announced a shared commitment to keep subway riders safe, and in each of the following four years, the rate of crime per rider has fallen. This year is on pace to be the second safest non-pandemic year in the subway system in recorded history, eclipsed only by 2009.
This historic reduction in crime comes as subway ridership continues to climb. On Thursday, December 11, the subway broke its post-pandemic ridership record for the third time in two weeks, with 4.654 million customers. Subway ridership is up nearly eight percent this year, with over 1.2 billion rides taken to date. Governor Hochul also announced that she is committed to further safety investments in 2026, including an additional $77 million for enhanced NYPD subway patrols…