Subway crime rates have declined in March compared to the previous month, according to newly released NYPD figures – but they are far higher than pre-pandemic.
The subway saw 2.32 felony offenses per million riders in March 2021 – 2.65 felony charges per million riders of the previous month and 1.47 crimes per lakh riders during the year 2019.
According to data prepared for Wednesday’s upcoming MTA board meeting, 118 major hooliganism in the metro system last month was 32.6 percent lower than the 175 reported in March 2020, half of which was spent in the city.
The NYPD said the major hooligans – murder, rape, robbery, larceny, assault and theft – are down 53.1 percent year-over-year.
But the decline in crime is far from depressive, about 67 percent below pre-epidemic levels during the first three months of 2021.
Subway saw 2.12 major hooligans per million riders in February 2020, the last “normal” month on record.
Felony attacks, meanwhile, have actually jumped from last year – up to 40 last month compared to last March. According to NYPD statistics, Assaults have jumped 8.2 percent this year.
Transit officials and union leaders have spent much of the epidemic ringing an alarm about rising rates of crime, and have called for a dramatic increase in the number of police patrolling trains and buses in the city.
But Mayor Bill de Blasio said last week that the MTA’s message was “discouraging” riders who stopped committing early COVID-19 by returning to the system.
“Look, the MTA is telling people that it is right for them to come back, not to discourage them.” Because regularly New Yorkers know that subways are safe, ”de Blasio said.
Subway ridership has increased in recent weeks, and last week saw two million rides a day over several days, MTA figures show.
MTA’s customer surveys reflect crime and harassment among the top concerns of both current and “lapsed” riders. A spokesperson for the MTA noted that NYPD statistics “do not measure harassment of customers and employees.”
In a statement on Sunday, spokesman Aaron Donovan said, “Given the climate that the rate of crime decline has halved, the reduction in hooliganism is very good news for our customers.”
“We continue our call to add more police to the system to reduce unacceptable numbers on our workers and customers.”
Leave a Reply