Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy threatened to withhold federal transit budget from the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) in a Tuesday letter urging town leaders to re-evaluate their solution to crime prevention efforts on modes of public shuttle.
“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,” Duffy mentioned in a remark.
“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.”
His feedback come months after a girl was once burned alive at the subway and someone else was once driven in entrance of an oncoming teach.
In keeping with the heinous crimes, Duffy has directed Janno Lieber, MTA chair and leader government officer, to supply an in depth plan on how town will cut back violence involving transit employees and shoppers, save you accidents from suicide occasions or “subway surfing” along with deterring fare evasion.
“If you want me to take a train, make the train safe, make it clean. But if you won’t do that, we’re going to pull money and give you the incentive to make that happen,” Duffy mentioned all through a Wednesday look on Fox Information’s “Fox & Friends.”
In March 2024, New York Town Mayor Eric Adams (D) mentioned town would reintroduce bag exams within the struggle in opposition to crime at the subway.
Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-N.Y.) additionally applied a five-point subway protection plan, which integrated deploying 1,000 regulation enforcement officials to habits bag exams whilst proposing those that were convicted of violent crime on public transit be banned from using the subway or the bus.
In January, Hochul highlighted psychological sickness as a reason why for the uptick in attack on passengers.
“The recent surge in violent crimes in our public transit system cannot continue — and we need to tackle this crisis head-on,” Hochul wrote within the remark.
“Many of these horrific incidents have involved people with serious untreated mental illness, the result of a failure to get treatment to people who are living on the streets and are disconnected from our mental health care system,” she mentioned.
Duffy’s push for harsher subway regulations comes as Hochul stays entangled in a fight with the Trump management over congestion pricing.
The Trump management rescinded the approval of town’s $9 toll for drivers to go into a part of Ny. Hochul’s staff has filed a lawsuit in quest of to overturn the federal order.
