Nearly 4.7 million people rode the New York City subway on Wednesday, marking the system’s highest ridership since before the pandemic. The milestone came during the United Nations General Assembly, when the city strongly encourages New Yorkers to take public transit amid heavy traffic and street closures. The tally sets a new post-pandemic ridership record, surpassing the previous high of 4.61 million riders set in December 2025.
Before the pandemic, average weekday ridership often exceeded 5.5 million riders in the subway system. As Covid peaked in NYC in April 2020, the system saw just 300,000 daily trips, a decline of more than 90 percent.
The agency recorded 4,696,692 rides on Wednesday, September 23.
The MTA celebrated the new record in a post on X, saying its efforts to improve safety and reliability contributed to the achievement:
“Yesterday was the busiest day on the subway since before the pandemic. Nearly 4.7 million people rode the subway yesterday, a new post-pandemic record! We’ve invested in improving safety and reliability across the system—and it’s paying off.”
The record came during one of the city’s “Gridlock Alert Days,” when the Department of Transportation expects traffic to be especially slow and congested. A Gridlock Alert remains in effect through Friday as the United Nations General Assembly continues. The next busiest traffic days on the calendar are expected around Thanksgiving and most of December for the holiday season.
The Gridlock Alert may have contributed to the record ridership, as travelers who would typically drive into Manhattan may have opted for public transit instead.
RELATED:
- NYC subway saw 26.8 million riders last week, a new post-pandemic record
- New subway photo exhibition reveals the behind-the-scenes work that keeps NYC moving
- New York will test new thermal tech that cools down NYC subway platforms
The post 4.7 million people rode the NYC subway in a single day this week, a new post-pandemic record first appeared on 6sqft.
