 Good morning, everyone and thank you for joining us Delighted to be back here with the mayor once again at this very station, you know, we work together intensely since his First week on the job. It's hard to believe it's already been a year mayor and congratulations on a Outstanding stay the city addressed yesterday. So it's great to be back with you again like to acknowledge Janne Lieber the chair and CEO of the Metropolitan Transit Authority better known to all of us as the MTA We've been together often as well. So one was just this week was we had the soft opening of Grand Central Madison And what an extraordinary Experience that was so Jano, thank you and your team for all you do Keeping us safe here, but also keeping us moving Also chief Michael company or the chief of transit has joined us as well. I want to thank him and Also from our team our commissioner of New York State Office of Mental Health Dr. Anne Marie Sullivan who has been laser focused on Helping us deal with statewide but in particular here in our subways the crisis of mental health that has been unfolding for a number of years But it's really hit a situation that has to be addressed. So we're back here I'm here just give a status report, you know, we stood here back in January we talked about our partnership We stood here in February talking about how we were launching our safe option support teams Sending trained professionals to go into our subways to develop relationships with people not just a one-off But develop relationships that can result all the people getting the care and the service They need basically the people have been homeless or so dealing with severe mental illness So we have been working very hard on that and also connecting those New Yorkers with supportive services and whether it's mental health or substance abuse and Making sure that even ultimately they get connected to not just housing But job training and skills and education Treating these individuals as people who deserve to know what is available to them and already since we launched this we've helped over 650 individuals Formally unhoused high-need New Yorkers connect with critical intervention services So that was what we talked about last February in October. The mayor and I stood Grand Central talking about our strategy to increase people's sense of security, but also the actual security of individuals who take advantage of this incredible Lifeline to New York the MTA and we knew how important this was at a time Especially when we're stressed about whether or not we're gonna ever have the same number of riders and people coming back to our business districts Because of the pandemic so there's been a lot of shifts in society and how we work and where we work And we wanted to make sure as we're trying to attract people to come back We had to be able to answer the question Will I be safe is my child safe going to school and said we had to answer that with a resounding yes And that is why we came together to announce our cops cameras and care initiative just in October And what that was all about was first of all boosting the police presence People feel better just a guide is I came down on the number four train I can't tell you how many times I heard someone say if you need assistance. There's a police officer on The platform in the mezzanine and I'm looking around me, of course I was surrounded by a few more police than usual, but I Want people to have that sense that you need help it's there, but also if you're someone looking to do harm to somebody That's a powerful deterrent when you know There's a police officer right either in the train the platform in the mezzanine So that was an important part of it beefing up our police forces Bringing in our resources from MTA transit, but also assisting the mayor to be able to add more people to his team as well We talked about the need to have cameras We've been aggressively installing more and more cameras on an expedited timetable I wanted to go faster and make sure that you know that we have information available if we do need to solve a crime and again Another deterrent if you know that what you're doing to hurt someone else or cause a problem is going to be captured on camera Also, he's as I mentioned we launched what we call the transition to home Initiative what we talked we had a new treatment program for inpatient care for those experiencing Serious mental illness as part of our care program and also making sure we have training now This is important training for our clinicians law enforcement professionals also the MTA workers Who come in contact with so they know what the rights of individuals are and help the people who are unhoused deal with mental illness And again, I want to thank the office of mental health for leading the trainings again You would assume they know but don't assume that you have to have a training program So everyone who comes in contact with our passengers knows how to respond in a situation where it's required So we've been making progress. We've been making real progress now. We'll stand here. We'll say we're never finished As long as there is any crime being committed. We will never say Mission accomplished those words will never come from our lips, but today's an opportunity to give a progress report And we're going to continue doing this We're going to keep being honest with you letting you know when we see data that says things are heading in a wrong direction We'll talk about that what our next strategy is but when things are improving That's something we also want to make sure it gets out to the general public. So We have seen a 16% drop in subway crime. We have some charts that you can look at that's just since The beginning of October from the previous year Major crimes on the subway since we started our Initiative initiative to bring more police officers and resources to the subway major crimes on the subway are down 28% since October That's not over here. That's just in a very short time showing The success of when you work together pool our resources city and state Approaches in a collaborative way where we bring all of our resources and start making a difference So regardless of our seasonal trends, that's very encouraging Major crimes are down 16% as I said, but also the crimes per million riders. This is what's interesting I'm going to go out on a limb here If you did a survey of how people feel about their security on the subway Say in February of 2020 before the pandemic I'm not sure it would be on their top lists Insecurity and concerned about crime. So people had this kind of yes, it's it's New York It's not always perfect or an imperfect place sometimes, but I don't think it was that same level of anxiety That has occurred during the pandemic when you think about there are fewer riders Fewer people with jobs more people that May have been doing harm to those who were on the subways during that time So that was kind of a unusual time frame It's almost hard to compare ourselves to that time frame because they were extraordinary circumstances But what we want to talk about is before the pandemic There are 1.5 million crimes per 1 million riders The 1.5 5 1.5 1.5 crimes All right, let me restart that I Would never come on it was 1.5 million crimes for 1 million riders the governor stands corrected 1.5 crimes 1.5 crimes per million riders At the height of the pandemic it went up exponentially 2.8 crimes per million now. That's when people are getting anxious you read about you saw in the news You may have experienced it personally in 2021 Things getting a little bit better not great 2.3 crimes for million riders now. It's roughly the same what it was through 2022 So when we judge ourselves Let's look at the pre-pandemic numbers Again before the pandemic 1.5 crimes per million riders Today you're today. It is 1.7 crimes per million riders now. We're not exactly where we were But that is an amazing trend That is a trend that we can feel good about as long as that continues to hold We're also seeing some of those lowest strong start of the subway safety and history. We started collecting the data back in 1993 we're starting to share this information So those far we're just wrapping up January now, but even the January data we see it's the lowest level of transit crime during a month of January Since we started collecting data many many decades ago So Despite all these facts, I can't tell New Yorkers. They should feel safe I'm not going to even do that But the data is showing that New Yorkers are telling us They feel safer and that's what I'm going to pay attention to according to our December MTA Customer satisfaction survey and again, thank you, Jan. When I spoke to the member of your team who conduct these surveys Asking people how they feel and what their thoughts are and how we can improve is how we get better So let's talk about how they felt during this survey just basically the month of November The number of New Yorkers who overall feel safe or very safe Went up eighteen percent in a very short time We just started this initiatives back in October by November People's attitudes were up almost twenty percent compared to the previous month That's the highest jump we've seen since we started taking the surveys and it builds on the fact that we have more riders We reached another milestone December 27th One billion riders one billion riders and my train was crowded. That's a Friday, right? All the story everybody's staying home on Fridays. They seem to be coming back. I had to stand but that's okay So we've had a robust year of ridership riders are coming back We're making a difference helping New Yorkers be safer and feel safer and Again, we're going to continue applying the lessons we learned you heard about What I spoke about about mental health one billion dollar investment first time ever the most aggressive approach The state of New York has taken to dealing with the issue of mental health since the de institutionalization of the 1970s we are leaning hard on this and again, I think commissioners solve them We're going to have more services more places for take people when they need a hospital bed because we have a shortage there But when they leave there, don't just say go back out to the streets. Good luck to you. God bless you That doesn't work. It has to be staying in contact with people. Are you able to get the therapy or going to get services? You have a place to live. That's how we start making a real difference in this challenge. So it's all about adding 3200 New homes new beds 1,000 beds and that's going to be more beds than we have before so there I'll let you take it away, but this is a good day. It's a good day And I don't know that we'll ever stand here and say crime is gone But this is New York. It's vibrant. It feels much better than it did a year ago even the month of October There's this greater sense of security again my not my words, but the words of our valued riders So thank you very much for reporting this and mayor Adams again Incredible partnership together. We're going to keep making a difference not just for our riders But for the people of New York in New York City. Thank you. Thank you so much I just want to thank all of our partners the governor the commissioner the MTA channel and Really our team down here in the subway system and the governor's right we stood here with a real plan And I remember the First three days in office people were saying why hasn't Crime turned around on the subway system, you know, what has taken you so long? January 3rd These were the questions we were getting a system Uh people people were coming through the traumatization of kovat The crime was real right here. We talked about A person living under the stairs that was just allowed to live in the system We saw encampments. We saw people living in the tunnel area We saw a large volume of individuals who were dealing with severe mental health illnesses That was really being ignored We came in with a real plan a real combination and we rolled it out in layers every step of the way We did an examination. Are we successful? What do we need to do? How do we pivot? How do we shift? We had over a million Inspections of our subway system last year. I think that is the highest in recorded history Where we told our officers who were assigned to the patrol bureau that you are not going to ignore The transit system that was that's within your precinct location We no longer was a disjointed silo police department We utilized all of our assets to go in and deal with the issue of crime And I say it over and over again and we take criticism for it, but it is actual Crime is the is actually the number And is how people feel We did not ignore what people were feeling People felt unsafe in our system and it doesn't mean no good to say we have 3.9 Million writers. We had a billion people that wrote our system last year But we have 3.9 million daily writers an average of six crimes a day It didn't matter if those numbers were there. The reality was that people said they felt unsafe So we had to have a dual approach We had to deal with how people felt and we had to deal with the actual six crimes felony crimes We were having on average a day and that was our dual approach. And how do we do it? We said to our police officers We're going to give you the equipment the leadership and our officers were going to have a real visible presence Because nothing makes you feel better when you are in the system or up top than seeing that uniform officer That uniform officer brings you a level of calmness You feel as though there's someone there to give you the service that you need But we were we went beyond that Partner with our jano and the mta. We started doing announcements telling passengers that you have an officer at the station You have an officer on the train We went on to say we're going to remove all the encampments I think it was two to three weeks into my administration that I stated We're taking the encampments off our system. That's not going to happen. They're not there now You don't see those encampments anymore on our system. And when I ride the trains, which I do often We listen to the public on what they wanted and we incorporated into our strategy And they're telling me eric. We're seeing less homeless on the system. We're seeing the police officers So I knew prior to the survey coming out because I did my own survey of being on this system Speaking to passengers and they were sharing How they felt and if anyone know new yorkers, they are not shy about sharing their opinions 8.5 million new yorkers 36 million opinions and they will let you know it every day But we started seeing a different energy and then with new leadership I am so happy to have chief kimper here who brings that eric adam's energy To this job and is cascading out to the officers who are performing this job every day Do we have a long way to go? You're darn right because the governor's right. We don't want six felonies a day We want zero felonies a day But are we trending in the right direction? You're darn right We are because we did it by not just having a knee jerk response. We did strategic smart layer on Precision policing. I know what precision policing is like I was a transit cop when the system was filled with graffiti and crime and disorder Just as we turned it around then we're going to turn it around now and that is what we're doing ridership is up People are feeling confidence about their system As chief kimper will go through where our crime numbers are Wrecking numbers and we're going to continue to move in that trend and we're going to continue to pivot and shift And i'm here here all the time. Well, how much it costs? I want to be clear There is no price tag on public safety The subway system is the lifeblood of our city if people don't utilize this system It will impact business it would impact tourism It will impact the ability to function and it will cripple our economy That is the price tag. That's important to me. This system will be safe It will be functional and it will be free from the disorder that we inherited In 2022 and so I cannot thank the governor Enough she has been in this system probably more than any governor in history talking about turning around The disorder that people felt the crime that was real and the perception that we could not have a functioning Safe clean productive subway system This is the partnership that we needed to do to deal with the mental health to deal with the crime To deal with the resources in the mta and to deal with the governor that understood the importance of new york city's Subway system with an economic engine of this entire state and new york state is the economic engine of this country And it starts one swipe at a time and one train at a time one passenger at a time And we're going to go on to continue to move in the right direction and I cannot again I said over and over again There are many conversations we have in public and in private the governor has been a partner For the city of new york and that is going to allow us to do the things that we have to do. Thank you so much governor mayor governor chairman lima Commissioner to all good morning From the first day in their office this administration the mayor the police commissioner have been very vocal and repeatedly stated That public safety is their number one priority And this certainly includes public safety in the new york city subway system With mayor adam's subway safety plan released in february of last year and the cop's cameras and care program Launched last october by the mayor and the governor unprecedented investments in public safety commitments have been made in our city's transit system And although we recognize that we still have a lot of work to do and that there are going to be many challenges ahead of us We are extremely encouraged by the results we've seen from these investments so far And we are working to continue with this trend Regarding crime in a subway system 2022 was challenging particularly when compared to 2021 a year when the transit system faced pandemic related complexities such as reduced use and lower ridership during the first 10 months of our calendar year in 2022 Overall major crime in the transit system was up a very concerning 41.6 percent Then on october 25th The mayor and the governor launched the cops cameras and care program This plan put upwards of 1200 additional offices in the subway system every day Assigned to patrol trains platforms mezzanines and turnstiles and the results The results were swift and significant Through the hard work of the men and women in the nypd The turnaround began immediately and it continues till today When we compare the period from the end of october to the present day with the same three month period a year ago overall major crime in transit is down double digits And that includes a 28 decline in robberies And when comparing the time period listen to this When comparing the time period of this recent safety program to prior years the same three month period We are currently at the second lowest overall crime level in recorded history and i'm going back all the way to 1995 when the cops that era started second lowest second to only 2020 The height of the covet pandemic Make no mistake about it. None of this happened by accident nypd officers have worked long and hard over the past three months to accomplish these results And enforcement in the subway system is up in all areas arrests are up 63 percent including a 26 percent increase in felony arrests And a 78 percent increase in misdemeanor arrests Fair evasion enforcement during this three month period is up 170 percent Tab summonses and criminal court summonses Those are the summonses that include quality of life violations They have increased dramatically 90 percent and 100 percent increases respectively Also encouraging is our current year 2023 crime numbers As of this morning and although Only we're only a little over three weeks into the new year But for these little over three weeks into the new year Overall major crime in the subway system is down 31 percent versus last year With arrests this year alone for the first three weeks arrests are up 97 percent Tab summonses up 91 percent criminal court summonses up 150 percent I'd say that's a very good start to the new year In addition to fighting crime in the subway system nypd cops have done so much more From jumping on the tracks to save people to saving over those victims to rendering aid to people in need Or to offering someone a level of comfort and safety through just their visible presence Your cops stepped up to every challenge that came their way and they're going to continue to do so. It's what they do Again, we know we still have a lot to do To be where we want to get to but at the same time We are encouraged by the initial results and we are very proud of the hard work of our cops I want to thank the mta the mta chairman jenna liba And his team at the mta for their continued partnership in these efforts And most of all I want to thank our department's greatest assets Our cops For doing what they do each and every day the greatest cops in the world. Thank you Good morning, everybody Governor huckle mayor adams Thank you for being here as you have been so many times in the past But thank you for stepping up again and again and again for the mta and more important for new york's riders That has been a hallmark of your leadership chief kempner You've already made a difference and we're thrilled to be working with you You heard a lot of stats today, but there are two that I follow Ridership up this month 35 percent Crime down 31 percent. That's the month of january. These are the metrics that we track most closely As the governor said New yorkers are as a result of all of this movement that we've talked about this morning are feeling much more secure In one month the number of riders in a survey telling us that they feel safe or very safe That's our goal Has gone from 40 percent To almost 60 almost 60 percent in one month That is the impact of the program that the governor and the mayor set in motion And the percentage of our riders who are saying they feel like there's the right number of police in the system Is the highest it's ever been the one thing that riders say again and again and again Up and down the demographic and economic spectrum is they want to see cops And they are happier about the number of cops that they're seeing than ever before We're not taking our foot off the gas on the cops cameras and care program. I know that the governor and the mayor aren't They're in it for the long haul That's what we're all In it to do for the riders. I got to thank the transit workforce who is essential Not just to running the subways but to creating this environment of safety and orderliness and service That we're all shooting for Got to thank the conductors who are making those announcements and letting people know There's a cop on the platform if you have an issue And in and the few crimes that continue to take place because we see that the the reports every day every day We're seeing more and more immediate apprehensions immediate apprehensions Because there are cops on the platform And someone's stupid enough to try to snitch a phone from a sleeping passenger Cops on platforms arrest made it's really really a change I also have to acknowledge my brother rich davie who runs new york city transit Rich is arranged with our our labor partners to get the station agents out of the booths Which is going to make them enable them to be much more interactive with passengers to give Directions all kinds of customer assistance But it's also a safety improvement Because now they're going to be able to be eyes and ears Across an entire station not just for what they can see from behind the glass booth A very human presence is being added to the equation in our system And then there's the robust cameras program as the governor said And we are adding cameras throughout the the trains as well as in the subway system and chief kempner I were talking about the fact that the police department is Apprehending everybody almost immediately because of the access to the video that comes from the subway system It's a huge partnership between mta and ypd. That's really part of the success That we're that we're achieving And that's because we want everybody to know with all due respect Commit a crime against our riders in the transit system. You're going to be photographed And you're going to be arrested and that message is getting across Lots more to accomplish we have to keep up the good work But we're never going to stop fighting for new york's riders and under the leadership of this governor and this mayor We're achieving unbelievable results. Thank you Current plan mayor you've talked about how the state is helping out But is it still essentially funding daily overtime for all his officers? Is that sustainable and how much does it cost? We're we're budget would give you the exact numbers, but again as I stated I'm not going to put a price tag on public safety What we had to do We had to stabilize the system and that is why when you stabilize the system You send in a large volume of of officers using overtime hours a very visible presence Stabilizing this is what I said in the beginning We were going to stabilize this feeling of disorder that was matching of some high profile crimes Michelle go Within a short period of time being in office the slashing when you have an attack on the news reporter from channel five those high profile cases Really impact riders and so we had to stabilize the system Even with riders did something that was very important based on the customer satisfactory survey Even with those high profile crimes Riders started to say I'm now equating them as that is not my experience on my system because I'm seeing my officers there Riders have finally saw to differentiate between those high profile cases To what their personal experiences are and we're going to as we see the need We're going to make sure that we uh, uh, just pivot and shift based on where the crimes are We kimbuk believe we need additional support. We're going to continue to to do that Now stabilize so you can handle the regular shifts and not over. I'm not going to say that because bad guys watch your station all the time I want them to always believe we're everywhere And and you know, I was But you know just brutally criticized when I talked about how people feel When I'm on the subway system and I talk to passengers And they said this place is unsafe. I said, have you ever been a victim of a crime? No, I have not So what we understand it doesn't matter if you personally was a victim of a crime If you enter the system and you see a person that's dealing with mental health illness yelling and screaming Unkept undressed kicking things over you see trash You you're you're sitting down on a train and you're reading about someone that was attacked that begins to play on your psyche And so we knew the best way to de-escalate that anxiety was this That uniform is a symbol of order and not disorder So a lot of this had to do with we needed a visible presence of our police officers We needed we needed them walking through the train cars. We needed them on the platform We needed them inside the station. We needed them doing station inspection That is what we knew so we knew we had to bring down those six felonies a day But we had to make those 3.9 million riders Feel that there's my police officer. I feel safe and that was the balance That's why you see and it was something that chief kimper said that many people ignore We constantly hear about the morale in the police department There's the morale is low. There is no morale. That's just doesn't add up 27 year high and gun arrests 7,000 guns off the street increasing subway Enforcement increasing arrest here. We hear constantly guy committed crime. We caught him these cops are working I don't know where everybody think this bad morale is Cops are working every day for the people of this city because we have the right leadership and commissioners No, no, and I'm glad you you said that uh, nj you asked that question and I use this analogy all the time Of if my house is burning don't come to me and talk about fire prevention strategies Put out the fire and then let's engage in a conversation about how do you prevent future fires? So what we had we had a blazing fire in our subway system We had to deal with that fire and that's what the governor and I said So those who say well, you know what we need a 10 year or 20 year or five year long term plan New yorkers don't want that and new yorkers are saying. What are we doing right now? People are afraid to talk about right now. We're not Right now I had to make riders be safe and feel safe and we have this long-term plan You know, it it took a few months to rid our system of the encampments It took a few months to get 3 000 people to go into uh safe havens and supportive housing We know there are long-term things we have to do But as the mayor and the governor we have to deal with the immediate fire Right now while we deal with the long-term plan and that's what we did. That's the real partnership We're doing it so many years. We're not only doing it here Every area that's how we function. Let's deal with the immediate and then let's build out the long term for the governor you have both talked about setting aside beds for the mentally ill Where are they and I know there was supposed to be a tour of three more of the state facility Who's going to be housed there and will they be coming from the sub-waste? Many will but the problem we've had is when our SOS teams identify someone in need of help Escort them to a hospital Anticipating that they'll get an evaluation and possibly admitted and there's not enough beds It doesn't work. It breaks down right then and there So we said last year and I'll tell you I was not thrilled with the results. We told the hospitals During the pandemic you took a lot of mental health beds psychiatric beds offline because of covet understood that But we don't have that demand for beds and we've not had it for a long time. So where are the psychiatric beds? psychiatric beds costs more trained psychiatric nurses doctors so there's less of a return on That bed financially if it's a psychiatric bed. So I was aware of this last year So I said, all right. What I can do is help Give you a greater reimbursement from Medicaid and state assistance for you to do that So now hospitals you no longer have a disincentive financially. So open up the beds Our analysis shows that we've not had the success. We're still down beds. So this year in my state of the state I talked about we'll continue that increase of reimbursement But there's going to be consequences There's consequences and I'll let the commissioner talk about our overall strategy But again when someone does get that care in a hospital We're going to hold their hand through the system and that's where we've lost too many. They cycle back in cycle back in We have to build 3200 3500 supportive residential homes that takes a little bit of time 1,000 more beds to come online and I want them like this and we're on top of this But also Stay engaged. Does this person need are they getting their medication? Are they having Remote conversations with a therapist or a mental health professional? Are they showing up for the job training program that we led them to? That's how you keep the whole person From ending up back here again. We've not been successful at that in the past That is what we've leaned into with a billion dollar state investment the largest in our state's history Finally acknowledging there is a role a serious role for all of us As a city a state and a community to make sure that we address this concern because it has many ripple effects Not just for that individual But also that sense of anxiety that they could harm another individual whether it's here on the street Mr. Did I miss anything on that? Okay Think of public safety today, uh, what are the city's plans for the Memphis video release? Are you gearing up for any protests and mr. Mayer? Do you have any message for the people? the the anticipated A Memphis release of the tape impacted me professionally and personally I advocated for years during my time in 100 blacks and law enforcement who care and and As a civil rights act activists as well To see What is reported that five african-american officers are involved in this? Uh, just really hurt me personally because it was always my belief that diversifying our departments with different ethnic groups Would allow us to have the level of policing that we all deserve I have not seen the video I am going to watch the video, but my heart goes out to the family That's involved. I think the the Memphis police chief responded swiftly And I believe that new yorkers should have the right to peacefully A voice their concern over If the video is what we anticipated To be but it's a personal and professional A painful moment for me as a victim of police abuse as a child I know the impact of it And I know that the years I've spent Encouraging different groups to be part of the noble profession of policing And what it appears is that these officers tonnage Much of the work that many of us attempted to accomplish But a little bit more on that I apologize. Is the city planning to potentially ramp up police presence, you know, in anticipation of possibly new protests This this police department is the best at responding to any forms of protests Holding major events The police commissioner has been sent down with the team And putting the proper strategies in place to make sure that people can peacefully voice their concerns This this police department knows how to respond to these incidents Better than any police department on the globe and my briefing this morning with the police commissioner and I'm going to do a briefing this afternoon Without team They are fully prepared to allow new yorkers to peacefully Voice their concerns based on what's the outcome. I have not seen the video. I'm not sure of what is on it But from the reports we're receiving Of that these officers appear to have violated the law Thank you Just on on the state level as well the new york state police are prepared to respond to any incidences but again, I will Ask everyone to heed the words of tyree nickle's mother On behalf of her family And his four-year-old child Pete if you're going to protest Please do so peacefully In her son's memory And so that's something we all need to take to heart How much how much has the state spent so far helping the city with overtime costs on the subway? Testing one two three four five This includes 62 million 62 million in a quarter Again we're assessing the data trends are much improved but we want to make sure that You know we continue to be a good partner to the mayor, so uh Much more will be reviewed in our budget in the next couple of days