NYC’s subway is actually safer than your car

NEW YORK

- Justin Fox, Tribune News Service

At a hearing of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in Washington last week, Representative Jerry Nadler of Manhattan and Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy squared off over the safety of New York City’s subways.

A snippet: NADLER: Are you aware that major crimes on MTA are down 38 since last year and down 88 since 2019?

DUFFY: No, that’s wrong, The assaults we've seen are up 608, NADLER: Why do you continue to lie about this? DUFFY: Why do you continue to lie about people being lit on fire on subways? The number of major felonies on the subway is in fact down this year and down since 2019 (by 3.98 and 7.38, respectively, as of the end of May, according to the most recent crime report provided by the New York City Police Department to the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority).

But felony assaults on the subway in the first five months of this year were up 188 compared with the same period last year and 668 compared with the same period in 2019, Nobody was lying. Both Nadler and Duffy were making valid claims about subway crime, even if their numbers don't appear to be entirely up to date. Was one claim more valid than the other? Given how much subway ridership has fluctuated over the past five years, it's best to measure crime relative to ridership, and that makes the situation underground in New York City look dicier. The major felonies rate is falling this year as it has every year since 2021, but it’s up 138 since 2019. The felony assault rate is rising this year and is up 1288 since 2019.