The chief executive of the MTA on Wednesday brushed off fresh Trump administration threats to withhold federal funds over subway safety concerns, touting a drop in crime and suggesting the White House could do its part to make transit safer by boosting federal funding.
Late Tuesday U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sent a letter addressed to MTA board Chair and Chief Executive Janno Lieber warning that the authority must provide details about crime in city transit and what the agency is spending to bolster security, or federal transit officials may withhold funds from the MTA. Much of the data Duffy requested is publicly available. Early Wednesday at a Crain’s New York Business event Lieber touted a recent drop in subway crime, and urged the White House to provide greater funds for safety initiatives.
“Every year we appeal to Congress and whoever’s in our Oval Office to deal with transit safety funding for the year, and so far, we haven’t had anything,” said Lieber. “But I’m thrilled to talk to Duffy about the 45% reduction of crime since 2019, and all that’s been done successfully to push back against the conditions that everyone sees.”
Crime on the subway is down 22% through March 19, compared with the same time in 2024, according to NYPD data. So far this year, the NYPD has logged 382 crimes in transit compared to 489 during the same period last year. Just in February major crime decreased by 15% compared to the same time last year — 135 incidents compared to 159, NYPD data shows.
Lieber and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch have credited the crime drop with a boost of police officers — more than 200 — to patrol subway cars and station platforms, with hundreds more recently reassigned from desk and administrative jobs to transit patrols. The changes have enabled the NYPD to place two officers on every overnight train, Tisch said during a City Council hearing last week.
In his letter, Duffy gave the MTA a March 31 deadline to respond to his list of demands or risk “enforcement actions up to and including redirecting or withholding funding,” according to the letter. Duffy did not specify how much funding for the authority is at stake, but the MTA relies on the federal government for billions of dollars annually to support service. Lieber said the MTA is working to provide federal officials with the information requested in Duffy’s letter.
The hostile letter was sent just three days before the March 21 deadline the White House has given the MTA to shut down congestion pricing, which tolls most motorists entering Manhattan below 60th Street. Lieber and Gov. Kathy Hochul have repeatedly said that they have no intention of turning off the tolling program unless a federal judge orders them to do so.
In the nearly three months since the launch of congestion pricing, the program has reduced the number of cars traveling into Manhattan’s busiest streets, sped up workers’ commutes into the city and increased mass transit ridership. At the same time, foot traffic to businesses in Manhattan’s Central Business District has reportedly remained steady.
“We did the years of work necessary to get the federal approval,” said Lieber. “And then we successfully fought tooth and nail in every courthouse east of the Mississippi to get to day one. We’re 10 weeks in, and it’s clear that congestion pricing is really a success.”
Other highlights from Lieber’s Wednesday conversation with Crain’s Editor-in-Chief Cory Schouten include:
Lieber expressed support for Hochul’s proposal to make it easier for police to detain people with untreated mental illness and have them forcibly hospitalized. Although state lawmakers are resisting the proposal, Lieber cited service disruptions Wednesday morning after a disturbed person went onto subway tracks in the Bronx. “That is why it’s so important that we support the governor and others who are trying to change [the law] by making treatment more available,” he said.
Lieber also indicated support for loosening the state’s discovery laws, aligning with prosecutors who are pressing to relax some of the information-sharing policies that they say have forced too many criminal cases to be dropped based on technicalities.
Lieber was skeptical about two new proposals to redesign Penn Station and the surrounding area, including one by Assemblyman Tony Simone that would revise the dormant state plan that calls for office towers around the station. “Any week there will be at least two new plans for Penn Station,” Lieber said. “Our job is to try to make Penn Station better ASAP, and we’ve done a lot.”
Asked whether the MTA has a backup plan if the Trump administration manages to kill congestion pricing, Lieber had a one-word answer: “No.”
