Only 15% of New Yorkers feel “very safe” riding the subway during the day — and a majority would like to see more police officers patrolling the system, a new poll found.
Quinnipiac University on Wednesday released the results of a poll that asked registered New York City voters to share their thoughts on Mayor Eric Adams’ first few months in office, as well as issues ranging from crime to affordable housing.
Fifteen percent of those who responded said they felt “very safe” navigating the subway system during the day, while 33% said they felt “somewhat safe,” 21% said they felt “somewhat unsafe” and 22% said they felt “very unsafe.”
At night, meanwhile, only 7% of respondents said they felt “very safe,” while 23% said they felt “somewhat safe,” 24% said they felt “somewhat unsafe” and 37% said they felt “very unsafe.”
Asked about Adams’ plan to continue to increase the NYPD’s presence in the transit system, 86% of those who responded said they supported his plan, while 12% said they were against it.
And sixty-two percent of respondents said they hoped to see the city install metal detectors throughout the subway system, with 35% saying they were opposed to the idea.
Quinnipiac released the poll results nearly a month after a gunman opened fire on an N train as it pulled into the 36th Street subway station in Brooklyn, injuring more than two dozen people, including 10 people who were shot.
Adams had already increased police patrols in the subway system before the attack as part of a joint plan he and Gov. Kathy Hochul released in February. That initiative came in the wake of a spate of high profile attacks within the system, including the murder of 40-year-old Michelle Go in Times Square.
Transit crime was up by 53% last month compared to April 2021, NYPD statistics released Tuesday show.
Year-to-date as of Thursday, that figure stood at 62.7%, with 747 transit crimes reported in 2022 compared to 459 in the same period last year, according to data compiled by the NYPD.
After the Brooklyn subway shooting, Adams said the NYPD would double its subway patrols, despite criticism from advocates who argued that an increased police presence would do little to deter crime.
The mayor also said the city was looking into installing weapon-detecting technology throughout the system.
“We found a number of interesting devices that can detect guns. We want to do pilot projects,” he said in an interview on April 25. “We’re still working out the details, because we’re going to make sure that we are protecting constitutional rights when we do so, but we are closer to rolling out a pilot project, and I’m excited about it.”
