Gov. Kathy Hochul said Wednesday that this summer was the safest in the New York City subway in at least 15 years, even as federal officials have painted the transit system as dangerous and crime-ridden.

While the latest statistics were promising, the event underscored how sensitive a political issue subway safety remains for the state, amid intensifying criticism from the White House.

Overall, there were 480 major crimes recorded in the subway from June to August, a 9 percent drop compared with the same period last year and the fewest number of such incidents since at least 2009, the governor’s office said. Major crimes include robbery, burglary, grand larceny, assault, murder and rape.

In August, felony assault — a class of violent crime that the Trump administration has frequently pointed to as evidence of lawlessness underground — fell to 31 incidents from 52 the same month last year, a 40 percent drop.

But the governor stopped short of calling the reduction a full success.

Referring apparently to a number of shocking crimes, including the immolation of a woman in a subway car in December, Ms. Hochul hedged.

“There will still be another headline that sends chills down people’s spines and creates that sense of — as much as, statistically, there is a very low percentage chance of something happening — you still worry about loved ones,” she said.