MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber rode the subway with amNewYork Metro in Lower Manhattan overnight on Thursday to highlight the NYPD’s overnight patrol program and future plans for the Big Apple’s underground transit system.
Lieber started his night trip by visiting NYPD Transit District 4 at the Union Square station to thank the officers for riding the rails. After rubbing shoulders with the cops, the MTA chair joined the NYPD roll call before the cops were set to spend another night patrolling the subway cars. Since January, the governor deployed two subway officers on every train between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m., yielding what the MTA has cited as an impressive reduction in crime.
“Two cops on every train right through the night. That is a game changer. The time when the system has fewer people, it feels a little more unsafe, and truthfully, there is more stuff going on that might be troubling to riders that’s criminal in nature, that’s the moment when there are going to be cops on every train,” Lieber told amNewYork Metro. “After two months of that, we’ve seen dramatic reductions in crime. And you know, it’s not often that a change in government policy has an impact really quickly.”
According to NYPD statistics, transit crime in February 2025 fell by 15.1% compared to 2024. Lieber credits this to not only surging cops on the trains but also positioning them on platforms and by turnstiles.
The MTA chair boarded a southbound 4 train and rode it with amNewYork Metro to see the state of the subway and the NYPD patrols for himself. He believes that increased law enforcement in the bowels of the city is imperative for public safety, admitting that it has not always felt safe for many straphangers.
“I want to see the presence of police officers in our trains. I just think that is literally the thing that makes the system feel safe, as well as actually make it safe. It deters crime, but also communicates the sense of order that you know has been sometimes lacking in the post-COVID era, the loss of a sense of order,” Lieber said.
Despite the strides that have been made, the perception of insecurity persists among riders. Commuters recently told amNewYork Metro that they would like to see those living with homelessness and mental illness taking refuge in the subway system receive aid in a meaningful and humane way.
While transferring to a C and then an A train, amNewYork Metro quizzed Lieber on this persistent homelessness issue.
“We have a lot of compassion for the folks who are struggling with whether it’s a housing issue or a mental health issue, but that’s not what the subway is for. It’s not good for them, the folks who tend to try to make the public space their home decline, it’s bad for them physically, and there’s a better place for them to get treatment and services,” Lieber said. “For compassionate reasons, we want to get them out. But, you know, I also don’t want my riders to get on at the beginning of their commute in the morning and feel like this is a rolling homeless shelter or a rolling psych ward, and we have made progress on that front.”
During the trip, Lieber also spoke about the persistent issue of fare evasion. From stationing cops at the turnstiles to redesigning them completely, people looking for a free ride continue to find a way.
Still, despite images of people either ducking under or hopping over the turnstiles, Lieber charged that fare evasion has fallen by 25% in the last six months. He also revealed that the MTA wants to redesign every turnstile at every station.
“Ultimately, what we’re going to have to do is change the turnstiles so we have these more modern turnstiles that really block people and don’t let them in,” Lieber said. ”We’re pushing back. We’re going to keep going, and then we’re going to change all the turnstiles and make them a lot less porous because right now the system is too porous.”
