Mayor Eric Adams deserves a cheer for “Subway Security Plan” wins, however making the transit system really protected will imply getting much more assist to Gotham’s critically mentally ailing.
On Monday, Adams introduced that town has positioned 3,500 onetime “road” homeless, together with 1,000 pulled from the subways, into everlasting housing since 2022.
It seems like Adams’ efforts, mixed with Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch’s emphasis on quality-of-life policing, are paying off: MTA officers simply introduced drops in transit-system crime, together with a 16.7% dip in robberies and a 9.3% fall in felony assaults, evaluating July 2025 to July 2024.
Then once more, the subways noticed a 19% spike in felony assaults in 2025’s first quarter.
And straphangers nonetheless have good motive to be skittish: On Saturday, a screaming maniac shoved a person onto the tracks on the No. 1 fiftieth Road station for no obvious motive; an hour later, one other unhinged man stabbed one other man within the neck at an East Village station after the 2 acquired right into a struggle.
Town has much more dangerously unwell vagrants to get out from underground and into therapy, in different phrases — and will use continued state reforms to make that simpler.
Mayor Adams and Gov. Hochul received some expanded requirements for involuntary dedication this yr, however the main mayoral candidates produce other priorities.
Zohran Mamdani even needs to transform subway retail areas into homeless-outreach facilities, which might imply extra emotionally disturbed individuals wandering the system.
Forcing unwilling individuals into therapy sends progressives into conniptions, however true compassion means not letting the critically mentally ailing resist the assistance they desperately want.
Adams and Tisch have made some hard-earned strides, however the positive aspects are fragile and unlikely to outlive a progressive victory in November.
If Adams will get voted out of workplace, look ahead to transit crime to balloon once more.
