Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
NYPD officials say they will deploy 800 more officers into the subway to stop fare evasion
By
Bahar Ostadan
Published Mar 25, 2024
Modified Mar 25, 2024
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
(Photo by Eduardo MunozAlvarez/VIEWpress via Getty Images)
By
Bahar Ostadan
Published Mar 25, 2024
Modified Mar 25, 2024
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
In the wake of four subway shootings this year, NYPD officials said they will deploy 800 additional plain clothes and uniformed officers to crack down on fare evasion over the next five days. They said the strategy will help reduce crime in the subway because people who commit crimes often don’t pay their fare.
"The tone of law and order must start at the fare gates," NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper said at a Monday news conference at the 125th Street subway station in Harlem.
The latest surge in officers comes weeks after Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered 750 National Guard soldiers to flood the subway system alongside the MTA and state police to help the NYPD conduct bag checks. Subway crime so far this year is up 7% over the same period in 2023, according to NYPD data.
The three murders on the subway system so far this year put the city on track to surpass 2023’s total of five murders. That figure does not include an incident on Monday night, when police said a man was pushed onto the tracks at the same station Kemper spoke at earlier in the day. The incident was still under investigation on Monday, police said.
Police have arrested 1,700 New Yorkers for fare evasion so far this year, and issued summonses to 28,000 others, Kemper said.
“Don’t jump. Don’t crawl. Don’t come through the gate. Make the right decision,” Kemper said of the effort police have dubbed “Operation Fare Play.”
Police officials have responded to a string of recent subway shootings by pointing to fare evaders — claiming the man who was shot in the recent Hoyt-Schermerhorn shooting brought a gun in through the emergency exit at Nostrand Avenue. Cracking down on fare evasion helps keep “bad people” out of the system, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Tarik Sheppard said on Monday.
By focusing on turnstile evasion, the NYPD is doubling down on a strategy it’s been using since 2022. In that year, Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams deployed 1,000 additional NYPD officers into the subway system each day to address safety concerns. That program cost taxpayers an additional $151 million in officer overtime and resulted in about 34,000 more summonses for fare evasion – an increase of about 160% from the previous year, according to NYPD data.
“There’s no more freebies anymore,” NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said.
The NYPD will also be rolling out new technology that uses subway station cameras to detect weapons, according to NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry.
Daughtry said New Yorkers can expect to see that announcement coming in the next few days.
Asked by a reporter earlier this month, the NYPD declined to share the ratio of fare evasion stops to weapons recovered.
This story has been updated with information on a death in the subway system on Monday night.
Tagged
new york city
public safety
transportation
Bahar Ostadan
Bahar Ostadan covers the NYPD and public safety. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or message Bahar on Signal at 646-740-7335.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Hochul names NY AG James as special prosecutor on alleged rape case at Cornell University
The governor said she does not have faith that the police and the Tompkins County DA effectively investigated the case.
By
Jon Campbell
Published Oct 1, 2026 at 9:04 p.m. ET
Founder of NYC LGBTQ therapy practice charged with rape after alleged sexual assaults
Joseph LoGiudice is the second therapist at Liberation Psychotherapy to be accused of sexually abusing a patient.
By
Giulia Heyward
News
Founder of NYC LGBTQ therapy practice charged with rape after alleged sexual assaults
Joseph LoGiudice is the second therapist at Liberation Psychotherapy to be accused of sexually abusing a patient.
By
Giulia Heyward
US judge in NY indefinitely blocks ICE from making arrests at immigration courthouses
By
Arya Sundaram
Lawyer challenging NYC rent freeze releases Mamdani officials’ emails and text messages
By
David Brand
Push to strengthen NY sexual assault laws gathers steam after Cornell rape allegations
By
Walter Wuthmann
and
Jon Campbell
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .