Arrests and summonses in NYC subway increase amid heightened security 

Fare evasions summons and arrests in the New York City subway have skyrocketed a week after Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams announced a plan to place more police officers in the subway system, according to Metropolitan Transportation Authority CEO Janno Lieber. 

Last week, Hochul and Adams announced a new plan to deal with the surge in crimes that the Big Apple’s subway system has experienced. As part of their “Cops, Cameras, Care” initiative, more than 1,200 extra officers a day are being placed in the subway to patrol and prevent crime. 

Since the additional officers were stationed, summonses for fare evasion increased by 80% in the past week, compared to a similar week last year, Lieber said. 

MTA spokesperson Michael Cortez added that quality of life summonses also increased by 118% to 2,298 and all kinds of arrests in the subway system almost doubled. 

“It's deterrence, it's faster apprehensions, and it delivers the public a greater sense of confidence in safety in the system,” Lieber said. “The No. 1 thing that makes them feel safer is to see a uniformed officer. We're delivering that.”

In addition to the heightened presence of uniformed officers, the MTA has also deployed 50 unarmed guards to watch subway entrances and prevent “optimistic fare evaders” from entering, Lieber added. 

Crime in New York City’s subway system has dramatically increased. According to the New York Police Department, crime on the subway is almost up 47% compared to last year.

As a result, the MTA has lost ridership of its trains and is seeing only about 63% of its pre-pandemic traffic on an average weekday. 

Yet, Lieber said that more police presence and crime deterrence are necessary to bring back ridership. 

“To get everybody back, we're going to have to create an environment where people have confidence in safety, up and down,” he said. “That's why we're doing this.”