It was an offer they could refuse.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blasted MTA brass Monday for giving the feds the “runaround” over the agency’s handling of concerning increases in crime on the New York City rails.
“MTA giving USDOT the runaround when New York City grapples with a dramatic uptick in subway assaults is unacceptable,” Duffy said in a statement.
The DOT head has grown increasingly worried with the state of the city’s underground, citing a recent Post article showing felony assaults skyrocketing — up 19% this year and 66% since 2019.
DOT first shipped a letter off to the MTA in March. The federal transportation agency followed up on Monday with a new correspondence demanding to know what was being done to bolster subway safety.
“The innocent victims of these horrific crimes and the daily commuters who live in fear of violence deserve better,” Duffy said. “The MTA should provide us with the information we need to assess the gaps in their security strategy and safety protocols.
“It’s time we restore order on New York’s transit systems — lives are at stake.”
In the letter, DOT’s Joe DeLorenzo ripped the MTA for being tardy in filing required reports with the feds regarding major safety incidents.
New York City Transit “is required to submit major safety and security event reports to the NTD (National Transit Database) … no later than 30 days after the date of each reportable event,” DeLorenzo said.
The Federal Transit Administration “found that NYCT was late with 79% of NTD major incident submittals in 2024, averaging 36.5 days late per report,” he added.
DeLorenzo said future instances of late reporting could lead to “ineligibility” to receive federal funding.
DOT’s March letter asked for data on transit worker assaults, fare evasion, criminal activity, trespassing, including “subway surfing,” and the use of federal funds to bolster safety and security.
This week, DOT sought more specifics on strategies to reduce safety risks and asked how many subway surveillance cameras are working and how long videos are retained for.
The letter makes no mention of the NYPD, whose officers patrol the subway system.
The MTA dismissed the DOT letter and accused Duffy of playing loose with the facts.
“Subway crime is down, ridership is up, and congestion pricing is working,” said John McCarthy, the MTA’s chief of policy and external relations. “We look forward to Secretary Duffy wrapping his head around the facts.”
NYPD data shows that overall transit crime is down 3% through June 29, compared to the same period last year — 1,051 incidents to 1,083.
Meanwhile, Duffy and the MTA are also duking it out over the six-month-old congestion pricing.
Duffy has repeatedly demanded that the MTA suspend the controversial $9 congestion toll to drive into Manhattan south of 60th Street, a program that was backed by the Biden administration.
The MTA, along with Gov. Kathy Hochul, has refused to cave to Washington.
Hochul and the MTA last week applauded the six-month congestion program as a success, saying auto traffic is down but subway, bus and commuter rail ridership is up — and hundreds of millions of dollars from toll revenues flow into MTA coffers to help fund its capital program.
The MTA sued the Trump administration in February after President Trump and Duffy attempted to pull back federal approval for the plan, which went into effect on Jan. 5.
A federal judge in Manhattan granted the MTA a preliminary injunction in May temporarily barring the Trump administration from shutting down the congestion toll.
But a DOT spokesperson said the federal government plans to continue its fight to have the pricing plan scrapped altogether.
“In the eleventh hour of his failing Administration, Joe Biden cowardly approved this absurd experiment that makes Federally funded roads inaccessible to many taxpayers without giving them a toll-free alternative,” the spokesperson said.
“We can all agree that the New York City subway needs fixing, but drivers should not be expected to foot the bill.”
