Trump administration strongly criticizes high crime rates in Democratic cities, promising to improve safety for travelers: ‘This is unacceptable’

In New York, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy recently urged city officials to address issues within the subway system. In response, Mayor Eric Adams invited Duffy to see the challenges firsthand.

Together, Adams, Duffy, and NYPD Chief Joseph Gulotta rode the BQE line from Brooklyn to Manhattan. The federal government has pledged support for the city’s crime prevention efforts. 

While Adams lauded the federal government’s assistance in combatting subway crime, he criticized Governor Kathy Hochul’s administration for hesitating to implement new MTA-focused initiatives.

Mayor Eric Adams swipes into a subway turnstile alongside Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in Brooklyn, New York on Friday, April 4, 2025. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)

“I was sharing with the Secretary [that] the cause we’re having in Albany [is] involuntary movement,” said Adams, a Democrat who announced his intention this week to seek re-election as an independent. “Homeless individuals who need care, or the support we need from our state lawmakers to see [police] carry out on the ground.” 

The Hochul administration and the MTA did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

Commuters travel through a subway tunnel in midtown Manhattan on Monday, March 11, 2024. (Matthew McDermott for Fox News Digital)

Duffy and Adams signaled their administrations would continue to work together to combat crime within the city, essentially removing the governor as the middleman between the city and federal government. 

“I think Albany has to think deeply about how far we have to go in order to stop [crime],” Duffy said. “That’s more resources, that’s more tools that Albany has to give [the NYPD] to arrest people. [The federal government] gives a lot of money, and for us, we’re partners in the process.”