Markets 
A $77 million cash infusion from the state to flood the subway system with extra NYPD cops has already run dry — forcing the Mamdani administration to cover the added patrols, The Post has learned.
The state fund — touted by Gov. Kathy Hochul last December as a way to keep a surge of uniformed officers in the subway system — was zeroed out by July, mere weeks into the Big Apple’s fiscal year, city and state officials confirmed.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a socialist who campaigned on eliminating police overtime altogether, will now have to honor a deal inked by his predecessor Eric Adams to continue the flood of extra cops in the transit system as assaults surge underground.
The revelation of the exhausted fund comes as felony assaults in the subway system were up 8% this month — though overall crime on the subways is down around 1%, according to NYPD data.
Misdemeanor assaults underground have skyrocketed even more, with a nearly 18% increase as of this month, totaling around 1,200 incidents, the statistics show.
There has also been a sharp increase in repeat felony-assault offenders, with 263 people arrested at least three times for the crime through Aug. 31 — marking a 205.6% increase from the same period in 2018, the NYPD said.
Mamdani — whose comrades in NYC DSA have repeatedly called for defunding the NYPD — has made no mention of the extra time pay for cops while lauding his massive $126 billion budget, which ballooned by $10 billion from the year prior.
The social media-focused mayor’s first budget, propped up by many one-time budget tricks, came millions of dollars for Mamdani’s set projects, including $54 million for a self-promotion arm, Office of Mass Engagement, and $250 million for the scaled-down Office of Community Safety.
The budget, though, cut the addition of 580 cops, who were expected to help drive down overtime costs.
“The City and State will continue to support enhanced NYPD subway patrols under the existing funding arrangement,” mayoral spokesman Sam Raskin said.
The NYPD will continue to deploy the extra cops, a department spokesperson confirmed to The Post.
Felony assault remains a top priority for the NYPD, with the department making arrests in roughly 80% of felony complaints citywide.
A total of 71% of subway customers still say they feel safe in the system, according to cops.
Hochul’s office said Saturday that the city had agreed back in December — weeks before Mamdani took office — that the NYPD would pick up the tab for the second half of 2026.
The governor said nothing of the deal with the city during last year’s announcement, only crowing that she would commit the $77 million once her budget was passed in the spring.
“These funds will support over 600 officers per day and keep riders safe and surge patrols when they’re most needed at the discretion of our Police Commissioner to help cover overtime for those who are doing above and beyond, and make sure that people can ride the subways without fear,” she said at the time.
The $77 million pot of cash was intended to extend a surge of cops, after a sustained effort that put more cameras into the subway, an outreach effort that routed the homeless into care from the trains, and put more officers in the subway system, the governor said at the time.
In 2025, Hochul announced a separate $154 million deal with then-Mayor Adams to boost subway patrols, with the city and state splitting the tab.
However, when the governor rolled out the additional funds last December, alongside Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, it was not clear that the commitment came with the caveat that the city would have to pony up $77 million in the second half of 2026.
“For the last two years, the governor has provided $77 million to the city to pay for elevated NYPD presence in the subway system for half the year, with the City providing reciprocal funding that covers the other half of the year,” said spokesman Anthony Hogrebe. “That agreement remains fully in place and there has been no disruption to overtime coverage.”
Read the full article here
