Hochul boasts historic drop in subway crime
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul touted this summer as the safest one New York City’s subway system has seen in 15 years — despite the Trump administration’s claims that public transportation is still dangerous due to “passengers being pushed in front of trains” and “subway surfing.”
Hochul announced at a press conference on Wednesday that there were 480 major crimes — including robbery, burglary, assault, murder, and rape — recorded in the subway from June to August 2025. The report marked a 9% drop from last year and lowest number since at least 2009, according to Hochul.
At her State of the State address in January, Hochul said that New York state would invest $77 million in subway safety measures, including bringing two police officers on every overnight subway train, installing additional cameras in every station and increasing lighting in train cars. The projects will conclude by the end of this year.
Compared to the same period last year, murder on the subway dropped by around 26%, while burglaries dropped by over 14% and felony assaults decreased over 8% this July. Hochul said that new policies are making the subway safer, although President Donald Trump and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy insisted that crime is continuing to rise, supporting his threat to deploy National Guard troops to the subway stations — similar to his actions in Washington, D.C.
“We’ll take care of what’s happening underground,” Hochul said. “Tell Sean Duffy, we’ve got this.”
Judge shuts down Adams’ request to bring ICE to Rikers Island
A New York state judge struck down Mayor Eric Adams’ executive order to bring immigration enforcement to Rikers Island, calling it an “illegal” conflict of interest between Adams and President Donald Trump.
Adams signed an order earlier this year vowing that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would help reopen offices on Rikers Island, which holds offenders awaiting trial in New York City. The judge, Mary Rosado, had originally issued a preliminary injunction in April to temporarily block Adams’ plans and officially voided the order on Tuesday.
Rosado cited concerns that the order was made as part of a deal with the Trump administration to drop the previous bribe-charges against Adams. Adams was accused of taking bribes from foreign nationals and soliciting illegal campaign contributions during his run for a second term as New York City mayor. Those charges were eventually dismissed in April.
“Trump’s political agenda of using ICE to disappear residents without due process and separate families harms our communities and undermines our collective safety,” New York City Council representatives — including New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Immigration Committee Chair Alexa Avilés — said in a joint statement on Monday. “We’re pleased that the court recognized Mayor Adams’ attempt to do Trump’s bidding and betray their obligation to New Yorkers as unlawful.”
Adams said that he will appeal the order. He has also denied the bribery charges and dismissed concerns about a potential deal with the Trump administration.
Jim Walden fails to remove his name off the mayoral ballot
During a New York City Board of Elections meeting held on Tuesday, Jim Walden —- who ran an independent campaign for mayor through July — said that he could not remove his name from the ballot after he dropped out in an effort to consolidate support for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Walden urged all other candidates to remove their names from the ballot in order to sway votes toward Cuomo, who was the runner-up in the Democratic Primary election behind Zohran Mamdani. Prior to backing out, Walden ran as an independent campaign for heavy policing and government efficiency.
In a final decision, the board asserted that Walden’s name will still appear on the ballot due to his failure to meet the independent candidate drop out deadline of May 30. They said that the only way he could be removed was by death, nomination for a judicial position or moving out of the city — even in those cases, his name would likely remain on the ballot but votes would not be counted.
Walden filed an emergency petition on Wednesday and Thursday, and appeared before a State Supreme Court Justice in Manhattan the next morning. By Thursday afternoon, Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey H. Pearlman rejected Walde’s claim that the board’s decision was “arbitrary and capricious,” since voters would be forced to consider candidates who don’t want to serve in office.
If both Adams and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa were to drop out, the race between Cuomo and Mamdani would be head-to-head. However, this would not prevent the candidates that dropped out of the mayoral race from gathering votes on the ballot — in 2002, Cuomo withdrew from the Democratic primary for governor of New York but still received 15% of the votes.
Contact Natalie Deoragh at [email protected].
