Transport Secretary Sean Duffy on Wednesday condemned New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and the Metropolitan Transportation Agency (MTA) and accused New York City of subway safety risks of discounts.
“@mta & @govkathyhochul says the NYC subway is completely safe, while criminals continue to terrorize innocent New Yorkers.” “We’re fighting to make our commute safe again.”
In December, a 57-year-old woman was reportedly burned alive by illegal immigrants from Guatamara in a horrifying subway attack.
Less than a month later, on a Great Year Day, a New York City man was charged with attempted murder, allegedly pushing a 45-year-old man onto a subway track.
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In 2024, subway felony assaults increased, and murders doubled to 10, Fox News Digital previously reported.
However, according to the NYPD, overall, subway crime has dropped by 5.4%.
Duffy wrote to the MTA in March to note that New York City transport authorities will need to reduce crime or face federal funding cuts.
Sebastian Zapetta was arrested on January 7th in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York on murder and arson charges that allegedly burned a woman while sleeping on a New York City subway train. (RashidUmarAbbasi from Fox News Digital)
“The trends in violent crime, homelessness and other threats to public safety in one of our country’s most prominent metropolitan groups are unacceptable,” Duffy wrote in the letter. “After years of soft crime policies, our department is stepping in to restore the order.”
The letter requested a copy of the MTA’s data on fare evasion, workers’ attacks, customer attacks and police patrols, Fox News Digital previously reported.
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Members of the NYPD and National Guard conducted a randomized bag search on the New York City subway system on March 11, 2024. Governor Kathy Hochul deployed 750 members of the National Guard to combat a rise of nearly 20% of crime levels across the subway. (Matthew McDermott from Fox News Digital)
It also called for an explanation of how the MTA, which is given billions of dollars by the federal government, used taxpayer funds to address safety and security concerns.
“Commuters are tired of feeling that they have to risk their safety in order to go to work, to school and travel around town,” Duffy wrote in the letter. “We will continue to fight to ensure their federal taxes are heading for a crime-free commute.”
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The DOT, MTA, and Hochul offices did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Anders Hagstrom and Lindsay Kornick of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
Alexandra Koch is a news writer for Fox News Digital. Before joining Fox News, Alexandra covered news, crime, religion and military in the Southeast.
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