Subway Crime Is Up

The NYPD says subway assaults have increased over the past year. Here are subway crime statistics measured January through September, via the Post:

- Assaults (202) grew almost 10%
- Grand larcenies up 6.4%
- Major felonies down 1.4% (2,390 from 2003's 2,358)
- Other decreases: Rapes (down 33%), burglaries (down 16.7%), and robberies (down 7.8%). Murders are flat (3 reported).

The NYPD says that 80% of assaults resulted in an arrest, and noted that the increase in police presence in subways helped the crackdown in other crimes. Of course, the issue of future token booth closings is brought up when speculating about future subway crime, and Gothamist wonders if the City will need to put even more police in the subways (especially at night). (We also wonder if the increase in crime is due to an increase in simply reporting the incidents - if there are police nearby, someone may be more likely to report the incident.)

Do you feel safer or less safe in subways today? What do you think is the creepiest station? Even though it's a big station, sometimes 14th Street at 7th Avenue is scary at 11PM. Least scary can be stops along the L - there's always a pack of hipsters there too. Gothamist's posts on subway crime.