Major transit crimes surge 17% as NYC sees first underground murder in 2026

The city marked the year’s first fatal shooting in the subway this week as new NYPD stats show that crime in the city’s transit system is spiking, leaving fearful straphangers clamoring for more cops underground. Major crime, such as murder and rape, on subways and buses surged 17%, to 246 so far this year from 210 in the same period in 2025.Robbery skyrocketed 58%, to 60 from 38, and assaults spiked 9%, to 71 from 65, according to NYPD data through Feb.8.

“You’ve got a lot of people walking around here with mental health issues and controlled substances,” said Michael Ford, a 74-year-old Manhattan retiree at the Times Square station.  “It’s not good because I take the subways a lot.” The septuagenarian blamed increased crime on drugs and homelessness, and called on Mayor Mamdani to pump up the police presence underground.An NYPD spokesperson pointed out that the 17% increase so far this year amounts to merely 36 incidents or about six index crimes each day.The NYPD also blamed the frigid cold of early February.“When it is cold, especially this cold, more people move into the transit system,” an NYPD spokesperson said.Mamdani said he was pausing subway ejections during the city’s recent cold snap.

At the same time, the NYPD added about 100 cops a day to the system to address the slight uptick, the spokesperson said.“Also, six weeks is a statistically short time frame to allege any type of broad trend,” the spokesperson said.Last year, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, with Mayor Adams, implemented a strategy to flood trains and platforms with cops, including two officers on every overnight train.And by mid-2025, subway crime was at record lows compared to prior non-pandemic years. By the end of 2025, the city’s transit system was on track for its safest year in a generation, with major crimes per millionriders dropping roughly 30% since 2021.The city’s first underground murder happened on Tuesday when a 41-year-old man wa...