NYPD cops received more than $150 million in overtime for their increased subway patrols this year – a move that may have paid off, as the latest data shows an overall downturn in felony crime, despite an increase in ridership in 2023.
That’s a massive increase from the $4 million the department spent on overtime for cops patrolling the city’s underground in 2022, according to data obtained by Gothamist.
So far this year, 2,194 felony crimes have been reported in the transit system – about a 2 percent decline from the 2,245 reported at this point in 2022, the latest NYPD data obtained by The Post shows.
“This heavy police presence has to be a factor in lowering crime,” one Manhattan cop told The Post Friday. “Only the dumbest or the most desperate would commit a crime in front of a cop.”
Murders on the rails are down from 10 to 5, rapes declined from 11 to 4, robberies dropped from 582 to 521 and grand larcenies have stayed even at 1,096, according to the statistics, updated on Sunday, Dec. 17.
However, burglaries have doubled, from 7 to 14. And felony assaults are up nearly 3 percent, from 539 to 554 so far this year.
Misdemeanor assaults, too, have risen by about 19 percent, and petit larcenies have spiked by nearly 27 percent.
But those increases in a few categories come as subway ridership has swelled to 1.1 billion commuters so far this year, compared to 976 million last year — meaning that the system’s overall per capita crime rate has gone down 14 percent in 2023 compared to last year.
Uniformed cops have ramped up their presence – and hence their overtime hours – in the subway system since Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul rolled out their subway safety plan last year, following a slew of high-profile attacks on the rails.
The plan was also meant to manage the homeless population living in stations and trains.
As part of the initiative – dubbed Cops, Cameras and Care – the state has reimbursed the city for about $62 million of the $151 million it doled out, Joshua Florsheim, the executive director of the Management and Budget Analysis Section of the NYPD, told Gothamist.
“Governor Hochul has made subway safety a key part of her public safety agenda, and her partnership with Mayor Adams, the MTA and the NYPD to deliver Cops, Cameras and Care is driving down crime and bringing riders back to the system at record pace,” John Lindsay, spokesman for Hochul, said in a Friday statement. “We know there is more work to be done, and will continue to make investments to ensure every New Yorker can ride safely.”
MTA Chief of External Relations John McCarthy also touted the downturn in crime–which he says has helped to attract more commuters.
“Safer subways means more riders, and both the ridership and crime stats demonstrate a dramatic recovery in 2023,” he said, “and we are determined to keep that momentum going thanks to Governor Hochul’s and Mayor Adams’ continued attention to ensuring mass transit remains the best way to get around.”
No everyone thought the overtime money was well spent. One law enforcement source told The Post it would have been better to had just prioritized more dangerous stations and train lines.
“Instead of flooding the subway with patrol officers on forced overtime, the department has to focus on the stations and lines with persistent crime and disorder,” the source said.
One woman who only gave her first name, Rosa, said Friday that she doesn’t feel safe riding the subways – and that she nearly became a crime victim during a recent broad-daylight commute.
“A couple of months ago, I was waiting for the train at Broadway-Junction, [where] a young guy, 20-21, came up to me and said, ‘I can smack your face,’” said Rosa, a 50-year-old home care attendant who lives in Brooklyn.
She said the stranger sat down next to her on the train – and followed her when she got off at her station, Flushing Avenue.
“I stopped at the stairs to let him go, and he went down,” Rosa said. “I see there was a girl on the corner [near the subway]. He grabbed her hair and pushed her down, then ran away. He wanted to do that to me.”
“There were no cops at all. It was 2 in the afternoon. The only thing I see the cops doing is [looking] on their phones.”
Commuter Sarah Cora, 23, an engineer who lives in Manhattan, said she thinks the influx of officers in the subway system aren’t being deployed to the main problem areas.
“All I really see them doing is standing by the turnstiles,” Cora said. “It’s a lot of money for just standing around. The people not paying for the subway aren’t the problem.”
“I see [cops] by the turnstiles, not on the trains, where things happen,” she added. “They’re supposed to be protecting the people, not making sure the MTA gets their $2.90. It’s just a waste of money.”
Jimmy Hogan, 60, a UPS delivery man who lives in Manhattan, shared similar sentiments.
“I haven’t seen an influx of police to justify such a jump in overtime,” Hogan said. “If I do [see police on the subway] they’re all together standing, not doing anything. I’ve seen people jump turnstiles right in front of them, and they don’t do anything. Their hands are tied.”
And one police source questioned Friday whether the NYPD’s ramped-up presence in the system will really help in the long run.
“Cops can stand in subways all day like turnstile scarecrows but if they’re not empowered or supported to enforce the law nothing is going to change,” the source said.
Nevertheless, a November MTA ridership survey revealed that more than 60% of straphangers still say they would like to see more cops in the system – while roughly 30% say they’re seeing the right amount of cops, and a mere 10% believe there are too many officers.