Mayor Adams and the MTA: Whose Safety Is Protected?

NYPD Officers Patrol 34th Street Station in New York City. Photo by Ludovic Bertron.

Shortly after Eric Adams was inaugurated as mayor of New York City in January 2021, he deployed NYPD officers to conduct more thorough and frequent patrols of the subway system. Mayor Adams claims his intention is to encourage subway use among NYC residents, stating that “people feel the system is not safe because they don’t see officers, we’re going to bring a visual presence to our systems.” New York Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell contends that rider safety will improve after implementing an increase in police presence on the MTA. But many city residents are concerned that officers will not appropriately handle interactions with homeless individuals. Claims of rampant racism within the NYPD have also raised questions about the police’s ability to properly ensure the safety of all riders, regardless of race. 

The existing patrol of subways by the NYPD drew scrutiny from New York Attorney General Letitia James because of uncovered NYPD data revealing that Black and Hispanic riders account for the vast majority of fare-related summonses or mandatory court appearances. Black and Hispanic individuals made up 90% of fare-related arrests and 70% of summonses between 2017 and 2019, even though these groups combined only account for slightly over half of the NYC population. Pervasive discrimination against people of color within the NYPD leaves them incapable of fairly monitoring crime in the subways. As a result, the increase in officers in the subways has a disproportionate and negative effect on people of color. Hiring more police officers to patrol the MTA contributes to already destructive over-policing within communities of color and counterintuitively amplifies the issue by funding law enforcement efforts instead of providing financial support to marginalized communities. 

 Current polls suggest NYC residents certainly hold safety concerns about the present condition of the city’s public transportation. Approximately 53% of people polled agree that they feel safe from crime when riding the subway. But there are also clear racial divides over whether a police presence in public spaces makes people feel safer, particularly among vulnerable groups such as women, parents of school-aged children, and students enrolled in schools in New York City. In high schools where fewer than 20% of the student body is black, 83% contend that police officers provide a safe environment at school. At schools where more than 80% of the student body is black, the number of students who believe officers facilitate a safe environment falls to 76%. Racial gaps in police interactions can be explained by police commander instructions to officers, which often encourage them to view white and Asian riders as “soft targets” and direct their efforts to black and Latino riders for even minor offenses like fare evasion. MTA riders cannot expect the NYPD, a historically racist system and institution, to suddenly become unbiased when asked to patrol subway stations, while it continues to prey on marginalized communities. 

Rapid spikes in the population of homeless individuals residing in subway stations should serve as a call to action for NYC to embrace a housing-first approach to connect people to permanent housing and increase mental health and addiction services. But the influx of officers patrolling subway stations will inevitably lead to increased interactions between the homeless population and the NYPD. Mayor Adams assures residents that officers will not unnecessarily engage with homeless individuals or be involved in petty issues that will negatively impact them. But an increased police presence can make it more difficult for mental health and housing outreach teams to foster trust with and provide resources to unhoused New Yorkers. NYPD interactions with homeless individuals will likely lead to relocation to more secluded and dangerous areas where they are out of sight of others using the MTA. Achieving true safety for all NYC residents is only possible if there are concerted efforts to find permanent housing and resources for houseless citizens. The current MTA issues reveal a humanitarian crisis rooted in pervasive and unaddressed homelessness, as well as inaccessible mental health services to NYC residents. Adding additional NYPD officers only promotes the criminalization of poverty and homelessness, and fails to protect marginalized individuals suffering at the hands of racist and classist policies.

Mayor Adams’ inauguration fails to address the root causes of houselessness and poverty in the United States, choosing not to advocate for accessible mental health services, an increase in employment, or having safe, warm places for houseless individuals to stay. Rather, Mayor Adams’ MTA policies are designed to push houseless folks out to increase the perceived safety of white New Yorkers. As fewer people have flocked to the subways due to COVID-19, houseless individuals have become more visible in stations and on trains, which Mayor Adams claims contributes to a general feeling of “disorder” on the MTA. He claims he will invest money into providing more psychiatric hospital beds and committing to ensuring houseless New Yorkers receive the psychiatric care they need and deserve. But he likened homelessness with a “cancerous sore” which we have simply been bandaging, illustrating that Mayor Adams lacks the humanity and compassion for houseless folks to be a true advocate for their healing and safety. Criminalizing houselessness through deploying police officers and instructing them to remove any individual who appears to be houseless is not a solution to crime. It simply reinforces the common perception that houseless individuals lack dignity and are unworthy of care and respect. 

Members of the Columbia University community and residents of the Morningside Heights neighborhood were notified on February 19th of a stabbing at the Columbia University 116th Street subway station, making issues of violence on public transportation hit close to home for CU students. While the perpetrator of this particular attack is unknown and does not appear to be a houseless individual, violence in subway stations occurs in all boroughs and communities. It is easy to turn a blind eye to violence in the stations and houseless folks having to shelter in stations and trains for warmth during cold winter months, particularly for students who reside within walking distance to campus and generally feel safe in the neighborhood. But Columbia University students should recognize that, even as part-time residents of NYC, it is important to advocate for houseless individuals living in subway stations or trains and support policies, proposed by organizations such as Amida Care, that aid houseless individuals in receiving mental health services and proper shelter. Being an advocate, rather than contributing to the stigmatization and criminalization of houseless folks helps ensure all individuals feel safe on the subway and in New York City. 

Lauren Winkleblack is a junior at Barnard College majoring in human rights and literature.