President Donald Trump’s administration threatened to withhold federal funding for the New York City transit system unless the Metropolitan Transportation Authority submits a plan addressing transit safety. In a letter sent to the MTA on Tuesday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy urged Chair & CEO Janno Lieber to provide a detailed plan to reduce crime, combat violence against transit workers, minimize injuries and fatalities from suicide events and subway surfing, and address fare evasion. In response, transit officials pointed to publicly available data that shows major crimes trending down this year.
The letter demands Lieber provide detailed information, including the number and percentage of employees receiving de-escalation training, the monthly number of transit worker assaults over the past two years, fare evasion statistics, data on passenger attacks—including those involving pushes in front of trains—and evidence supporting the MTA’s efforts to address these issues.
“The trend of violent crime, homelessness, and other threats to public safety on one of our nation’s most prominent metro systems is unacceptable. After years of soft-on-crime policies, our Department is stepping in to restore order,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said.
“Commuters are sick and tired of feeling like they have to jeopardize their safety to get to work, go to school, or to travel around the city. We will continue to fight to ensure their federal tax dollars are going towards a crime-free commute.”
The MTA relies on billions in federal funding each year to improve service and has plans to request $14 billion in its upcoming five-year capital budget, according to the New York Times.
Crime on the subway has already been decreasing. MTA Chief of Policy and External Relations John J. McCarthy cited recent data showing a 40 percent drop in subway crime this year compared to the same period in 2020. Additionally, fare evasion declined by 25 percent in the second half of 2024, as 6sqft previously reported.
Both city and state governments have moved to address crime in the system, deploying thousands of National Guard troops and NYPD officers. Plus, as proposed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, two police officers ride each of the 150 subway trains that run overnight.
Other transit safety-related efforts include enhancing lighting and visibility in subway stations, installing security cameras in every subway car, and modernizing fare gates to prevent fare evasion.
The Trump administration’s threat to revoke transit funding comes at a moment of high tension between the federal government and NYC, particularly over the controversial congestion pricing program and immigration policies.
Congestion pricing, which began in January after many years of setbacks and legal disputes, was challenged in February when President Donald Trump announced plans to reverse federal approval for the program.
In response, the MTA immediately filed a lawsuit to protect the program, with support from Hochul who condemned the move as an attack on the state’s sovereignty and said “the cameras are staying on.”
In February, Trump took back $80 million in federal funding from NYC that was intended to cover some of the costs related to housing migrants. In response, Mayor Eric Adams sued the Trump administration in order to recover the funds and prevent the federal government from improperly revoking or withholding future funding that the city is entitled to receive.
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