The Office of the Mayor of the City of New York said on Tuesday that Mayor Eric Adams rode the subways overnight last week with WABC-TV’s N.J. Burkett on the one-year anniversary of the launch of the Subway Safety Plan.
The Office said in a statement that the mayor discussed the city’s progress supporting New Yorkers experiencing homelessness, and ensuring riders feel safe while using the subway system.
Since the start of the plan last February, the Mayor’s Office said 4,000 New Yorkers experiencing homelessness accepted shelter, and over 1,300 New Yorkers, still currently remain in shelter, “stabilizing their lives on a path toward permanent housing.”
“I started my career as a transit police officer, so I know firsthand that subway safety is public safety,” said Mayor Adams. “Our transit system is the key to getting to work, to school, visiting family and friends, and experiencing all that New York City has to offer. It makes life in our city possible.”
Adams said that, last year, he and Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a Subway Safety plan in which they promised to devote more resources to helping those experiencing homelessness and facing mental health crisis “get the shelter and the care they needed.”
“We knew it would take time to build trust with this vulnerable population, and I’m proud that, one year into this work, we have successfully connected more than 4,000 people facing homelessness with shelter and the assistance they deserve,” Adams said.
This past fall, Adams and Hochul announced phase two of the city’s subway safety efforts, adding 1,200 additional overtime officer shifts each day.
As a result of this work, Adams said major crime in transit stations is down 18 percent since the beginning of 2023, compared with the same period in 2022.
As a result of this progress, in December, the mayor said subway ridership topped 3.9 million people in one day, the highest number since the pre-pandemic period, adding that riders are reporting “an increased feeling of safety through customer satisfaction surveys.”
