The Trump administration is threatening to pull federal funding to New York City’s transit system if it doesn’t provide a plan to address crime and fare evasion.
While New York transit officials point to publicly available statistics showing major crime on the subway system is trending down this year, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy noted “a number of high-profile safety related incidents” in a letter sent Tuesday to the head of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
“If you can’t keep your subway safe, if people can’t go to the subway and not be afraid of being stabbed or thrown in front of tracks or burnt … we’re going to pull your money,” Duffy said in a “Fox & Friends” interview on Wednesday.
Besides New York, subway systems in Chicago and Washington could lose the federal dollars they depend on to stay afloat if they also don’t clean up, he said.
New York’s transit authority said in a statement it is happy to discuss the efforts of the MTA and NYPD to reduce crime and fare evasion.
“The good news is numbers are moving in the right direction: crime is down 40% compared to the same period in 2020 right before the pandemic, and so far in 2025 there are fewer daily major crimes in transit than any non-pandemic year ever,” said John McCarthy, the MTA’s chief of policy and external relations.
Overall, violent crime in New York’s subway system, which carries millions of riders every day, is rare. Train cars and stations are generally as safe as any other public place. However, recent high-profile attacks, such as a woman being set on fire and people being shoved onto the tracks, have left some riders on edge.
Major felonies in the system have ticked down overall the past few years, although the number of assaults have risen, from 373 in 2019 to 579 in 2024, according to NYPD data.
Duffy’s letter seeks a list of the actions and plans New York officials have taken to address transit worker assaults, fare evasion and other criminal activity, including customer assaults and injuries. The letter specifically mentions “passengers being pushed in front of trains,” “subway surfing” and suicides.
The letter threatened to redirect or withhold funds if the agency doesn’t comply with its request for information and gave a deadline of March 31. The MTA, which also runs New York City’s buses and regional rail networks, relies on a mix of local, state and federal funding. Its $68 billion, five-year capital plan through 2029 anticipates $14 billion in federal grants and funds.
The letter comes as New York faces a Friday deadline to comply with a Trump administration order to halt Manhattan’s new congestion pricing system. State officials, however, have vowed to continue the tolling program, which is meant to thin traffic and pump new revenue into the nation’s busiest transit system.
The letter does not mention the congestion pricing issue.