Trump's DOT Chief Rips NYC Subway System, Calls It A 'S***hole'

NEW YORK CITY — The war of words between U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Gov. Kathy Hochul continue over the weekend, with the transportation chief criticizing Hochul's handling of the New York City subway system.

On Saturday, while touring the aftermath of the Route 80 sinkholes in New Jersey, Duffy was asked by reporters about the possibility of withholding federal funding to the MTA.

In his response, he alluded to Hochul:

"If you want people to take the train, take transit, then make it safe, make it clean, make it beautiful, make it wonderful," he said. "Don't make it a s***hole, which is what she's done. And she can fix it in hours."

Last week, Duffy told the MTA that it would withhold federal funding if the agency doesn't crack down on crime and homelessness in the subway system, Patch previously reported.

In a March 18 letter, sent to MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber, Duffy requested the agency's statistics on assaults, fare evasion and subway surfing. In addition, federal officials has asked the MTA to give them documents of all the money spent on fare enforcement and safety in New York City subways.

The MTA has been given a March 31 deadline to hand in the requested information.

"The trend of violent crime, homelessness, and other threats to public safety on one of our nation's most prominent metro systems is unacceptable. After years of soft-on-crime policies, our Department is stepping in to restore order," Duffy said in a separate statement.

"People travelling on the subway system to reach their jobs, education, health care and other critical services need to feel secure and travel in a safe environment free of crime," the letter read. "... The transit riders and workers of New York City deserve nothing less."

MTA Chief of Policy and External Relations John J. McCarthy following the announcement said that crime is down 40 percent compared to the same period in 2020 right before the pandemic.

In addition, so far in 2025 there are fewer daily major crimes in transit than any non-pandemic year ever.

MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber told reporters that the agency has "done so much to improve subway safety."

He said he planned to speak to Duffy directly in the coming days. It's unclear if they have spoken to each other as of Monday afternoon.