Transit crime spiked nearly 20% in February as cold weather policies prevented NYPD officers from booting rule-breaking passengers from the subways, the police department said Monday.
There were more than 190 offenses reported underground last month, an 18.5% jump from February 2025, according to data released by the NYPD.
The spike came as the department said it paused ejections from the transit system for violations of rules due to the below-freezing temps that gripped Gotham for most of the month.
Cops patrolling the subway system booted 61% fewer misbehaving straphangers in February compared to January, according to the NYPD.
“The increase coincided with record cold temperatures and snow in February, when ridership patterns shifted and the department paused ejections from the transit system for violations of the rules during the extreme weather,” the NYPD said in a statement.
Of the 192 crimes reported in the subways last month, about 27% were felony assaults. More than half, 52%, were about non-violent grand larcenies, according to NYPD data.
The more serious crimes included a 41-year-old man was shot dead on the southbound platform of the 170th Street B and D subway station in Bronx during an argument on Feb. 9, cops said.
A few days later, on Feb. 12, a Yeshiva student, 20, was assaulted at the West 181st Street and St. Nicholas Avenue 1 train stop, according to police.
Felony assaults against NYPD officers in transit also jumped about 42% — from 12 to 17 attacks – last month compared to February 2025, the department said.
Old Man Winter blasted the city with low temperatures below-freezing 19 days in February, according to AccuWeather numbers.
The month was capped off with a major blizzard that buried most of the five boroughs with close to two feet of snow.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani faced backlash over the outdoor deaths of at least 19 New Yorkers during January’s Winter Storm Fern and its unbearably cold aftermath.
The shocking transit crime data came as the NYPD hailed continued record-low numbers of shootings, gunshot victims and murders in the first two months of the year.
Overall, there were 97 victims across 83 shootings, and 32 murders in January and February, according to NYPD data.
Those record-setting numbers helped fuel nearly 8% drop in major crimes in February compared to the same time span in 2025.
“Once again, the NYPD is demonstrating how targeted, data driven policing is reducing crime and keeping communities safe,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch in a statement.