In 2022, the New York City subway system has seen a 40 percent rise in felony crimes when compared to this time last year in 2021. The many felony crimes included robberies, rape, murder and many other acts of violence.
According to the New York Post, 1,917 felony crimes were reported from January through October which is a steep rise from 1,367 felony crimes reported during the same time period in 2021.
In October alone, three murders, two burglaries, 51 robberies and 46 assaults took place in the NYC subway system. Murders in the subway system has risen to the highest annual level in 25 years.
Recently a 38-year-old woman was pushed off a train platform after an altercation with two other women, luckily a good samaritan helped the victim off the tracks and back onto the safety of the platform.
On Tuesday, two people were stabbed at different subway stations. A male victim was stabbed as he tried to fight off a robber and a female victim was slashed in the face and then attacked a man that came to her aid.
According to Professor Maria Haberfeld of CUNY’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice, “It used to be ‘I know if I don’t go to this neighborhood, I will be safe,’ but today you don’t have that. You can take the subway anywhere at any time of day, in broad daylight, and there is no guarantee of safety.”
Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams has acknowledged that the city has turned into a “laughing stock” because of its escalating crime problem. At an event in March he said, “Anything goes in the city of New York. The most important city on the globe has become the laughing stock of the globe. The dysfunctionality of our city has cascaded throughout the entire country.”
When Mayor Adams first took office, he described his experience in the subway. “On day one, I took the subway system, I felt unsafe. I saw homeless everywhere. People were yelling on the trains. There was a feeling of disorder. So as we deal with the crime problem, we also have to deal with the fact people feel unsafe.”
“We’re going to drive down crime and we’re going to make sure New Yorkers feel safe in our subway system, and they don’t feel that way now. I don’t feel that way when I take the train every day or when I’m moving throughout our transportation system.” He ran on the platform of making the subway and all parts of the city safer, yet we have seen no improvement and crime continues to rise.