NYC subway violence study finds correlation between time of day and station location

The location of a subway and the time of day determine whether commuters are likely to experience violence in the transit system, according to a new report, even though officials have deployed hundreds of NYPD officers to ride in city subway cars, installed surveillance cameras in subway cars, and discussed barriers being put in place to prevent straphangers from being pushed onto the tracks.

Less than ten percent of the city’s hundreds of subway stations are responsible for half of all violent crime that occurs underground, according to a Gothamist investigation. A report by the civic group Vital City also found that some of the biggest destinations are at the top of the list.

However, the study also revealed that passengers are more likely to be alone or with few other people when they are victims of crimes at smaller stations along the system’s periphery in the late hours of the night and early morning.

According to Paul Reeping, head of research at Vital City, “one or two violent crimes can occur at one of these stations that are in the outer boroughs, and suddenly that station has a high rate, comparatively to the number of people who are riding through it.”

According to Reeping, police have tried to limit fare evasion in an effort to discourage crime in the metro system, but this may not be the best strategy for lowering subway violence.

About 150 million fare evasions take place on the subway each year, while approximately 2,000 total offenses are reported, according to Vital City. According to the report, the group used those figures to show that there is no connection between fare-beating and violent crime.

According to data obtained until 2023, only 30 of the city’s 472 stations accounted for half of all violent offenses. Although the research combined incidents on moving trains with crimes at the closest stations, it stated that the busiest stations had the highest rates of violence.

Reeping stated, “We really don’t know why the assaults are spiking,” adding that scientists haven’t yet proven a clear connection between the violence underground and a number of socioeconomic variables.