Crime down from last year, but city increases cops on New York City’s subways, streets [Video]

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) — The New York City mayor and police commissioner said Monday it’s not the fight against crime that they are losing — they say it’s the perception battle of how people feel — and they have a new strategy.

It comes as the MTA hopes congestion pricing will push more people to use mass transit, but riders have reservations after a spate of violence underground.

At the start of congestion pricing, crime on the New York City subways is down 5.4% from a year ago, though “people don’t feel safe on the subway,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch conceded Monday, a sentiment echoed by Mayor Eric Adams

“Perception always overrides reality,” Adams said. “The average New Yorker would believe they’re living in a city that is out of control. That is not the reality.”

Adams says New Yorkers shouldn’t allow the latest headline-grabbing subway assaults to fool them.

The drop in transit crime coincides with an overall …