Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy requested that the city clean up its crime-ridden public transport system if it wanted to continue receiving taxpayer funds from the federal government.
Duffy's threat to withhold funds comes from his failure to keep New York City's subway system safe for riders. In a letter to the MTA on Tuesday, Duffy requested that agents take over data on subway crimes and plans to address those issues.
“It's not just New York, it'll be Chicago, it'll be Washington, DC'
“The trends in violent crime, homelessness and other threats to public safety in one of our country's most prominent metro systems are unacceptable. After years of soft crime policy, our department is stepping in to restore the order.” I wrote it. “Commuters are tired of feeling they have to risk their safety to get work, go to school or travel around the city. We will continue to fight to make sure federal taxes are heading for crime-free commutes.”
MTA Policy and External Relations Chief John J. McCarthy issued a statement following Duffy's letter, claiming that the agency was “pleasantly debating” its efforts with DOT.
MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber argued that the agency “doed a lot to improve the safety of the subway.”
“Now, subway crime has dropped by 45%, but soon after [the] A pandemic,” he said.
“In fact, the subway system has the least daily crimes than ever in history recorded in the first part of the year,” Lieber said.
Duffy challenged the MTA's claims during AN Interview Along with Fox News, it said that attacks on the New York Subway have increased by 56% since 2019.
“It's dangerous, it's dirty, and the city has spent billions of dollars on immigrants — even if they're giving homes and feeding, they can't spend millions of dollars on cleaning up the subway,” Duffy told the news outlet. “We give the New York subway millions of dollars a year. Part of the requirement is that they keep it safe.”
Duffy said the Trump administration is ready to withdraw funds if cities can't keep their subway systems safe.
“And it's not just New York, it's going to be Chicago and Washington, DC,” he added. “If they don't board to change the way they do it, we're withdrawing cash.”
“We are not planning on funding dirty, disgusting homeless shelters along the mirrors of the metro station,” Duffy told Fox News.
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