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A 50 percent surge in thefts targeting city straphangers drove an overall increase in felony subway crime in September, according to new NYPD stats set to be shared at Monday’s MTA board meeting.
There were 96 grand larcenies in the subway system last month compared to 64 in August and 55 in July, according to the NYPD. Subway robberies also jumped in September by 18 percent, to 52 robberies from 44 in August, the stats show.
The crimes helped fuel an overall 25 percent increase in felonies committed in the system from August to last month.
Meanwhile, felony assault in the subways has remained steady after a frightening headline-generating surge in May.
May’s list of assaults included a 35-minute slashing spree on multiple subway lines that injured five early-morning commuters. The spree spurred a war of words between then-MTA Interim Transit President Sarah Feinberg and Mayor Bill de Blasio, with Feinberg accusing the mayor of “negligence on the issue.”
De Blasio responded by increasing the number cops on duty on the subways during the morning and afternoon rush hours, which both the MTA and city cited as reducing the crime rate in June and July.
September saw felony assaults drop by one, from 35 to 34 incidents, over August. Police reported no murders, rapes or burglaries in the system last month.
“The stats show what New Yorkers coming back to transit in record numbers know: subways are safer than most places in the city,” MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said in a statement. “Crime came down this summer, and has stayed low, because the NYPD surged officers and the MTA put cameras in every station.”
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