New York City will begin removing homeless people from subways at night

The plan comes in light of an uptick in felony assaults in the subway which, while rare, were up 25% in 2021 compared with 2019. Last month, the death of an Asian American woman who was shoved off a subway platform into the path of a train prompted forceful promises from Adams, who took office in early January, to increase law enforcement in the subway system. Adams in January vowed to increase subway inspections and add 1,000 more cops to the system.

Some advocates for unhoused people living in the city say that, given its historic shortage of stable temporary and permanent housing, increased enforcement on the subway does not solve homelessness.

New leaders now say that safety concerns have held back efforts to increase ridership in the subway system, which hovers just above 50% of pre-pandemic levels.