(The Center Square) — The Trump administration is threatening to withhold federal funding for New York City’s cash-strapped Metropolitan Transportation Authority unless the city cracks down on crime, but state officials are pushing back on the criticism — and asking for more money.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote to Gov. Kathy Hochul last week requesting data on assaults against transit workers, fare evasion and subway-related criminal activity, including subway surfing. Duffy warned that he could take action, including withholding federal funding, unless the MTA takes steps to make the subway system “safe” for riders.
“In 36 hours, she (Hochul) could clean up the subways, could be a nonissue,” Duffy said Monday at an event in neighboring New Jersey. “Send law enforcement in, kick out the homeless, get rid of the drugs, cops on the beat making sure there is no violence, make sure people aren’t afraid of getting stabbed, pushed into a train. This isn’t hard.”
However, MTA officials pushed back on his claims, pointing to newly released NYPD data showing subway crime is down by 24% year-over-year, while felony assaults are down 4.4%. Meanwhile, officials say any negative public perceptions about crime in New York City’s transit system aren’t driving riders away, with a 9% increase in ridership on subway service over the past year.
“So what is our transportation secretary talking about?” MTA board member Haeda Mihaltses asked at a meeting on Monday. “If our numbers are saying one thing, they’re saying something else. I mean, where are they getting their numbers from?”
In a letter to Trump and Duffy, Hochul and the state’s Democratic legislative leaders asked the administration to re-authorize federal funding for the MTA for another five years and to “realign” New York’s funding formula to provide more revenue for the transit system.
“While the MTA carries 43 percent of the nation’s mass transit riders, its share of federal transit formula funding is only 17 percent,” they wrote. “Mass transit must be federally funded at a level commensurate to its importance to our nation and New York must receive its fair share of that funding to keep up with the needs of New Yorkers who rely on it to get to work, school, and medical appointments.”
The MTA receives billions of dollars in federal funding annually to maintain and operate the transit system. The dispute over funding is the latest volley in an escalating war between the federal government and the MTA, with the Trump administration pushing to end the transit agency’s controversial congestion pricing program.
On Tuesday, Duffy responded with a social media post that doubled down on his criticism of crime in the public transit system and blasted Gov. Hochul’s “outrageous” request for more federal funding.
“The MTA is running a deficit thanks to NY’s financial mismanagement, and they already receive billions in federal funding,” Duffy wrote on X. “Instead of addressing rampant crime that’s scaring riders away or actually fixing their financial mismanagement, the state is trying to fill the gap with highway funds and taxing the working class. Meanwhile, transit assaults are up.”
Duffy said the state needs to revise its transportation plans to clarify how it will reduce crime on the MTA system.
“Before we make any changes to funding decisions, we’d like to see their plan to make the subway reliable, secure, and clean,” Duffy wrote. “The federal government is not a blank check, and we will hold NYC leaders accountable for not keeping commuters safe.”
