NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — The NYPD recorded the most assaults in the city’s subway system last year since 1997, according to a new report.
A total of 461 felony assaults were recorded in 2021, according to data obtained by the New York Post.
Eight homicides have also been reported in the transit system in 2021, the highest amount since statistics began being recorded in the late 1990s, the Post reported.
Overall, the paper reported that there were 2.46 crimes per million riders in 2021. The number was well above the 1.47 crime per million riders reported in all of 2019.
Latest statistics from the MTA showed daily subway ridership is at about 50% of a pre-pandemic day, with an average of 2.5 million riders.
Mayor Eric Adams has acknowledged the increase in subway crimes, and recently told New Yorkers that he does not feel safe while riding the trains and vowed to make a change.
“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,” Adams said.
Subway commuters have echoed Adams’ sentiment, especially following the subway shove killing of Michelle Alyssa Go.
MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber, in an interview with WABC-TV, said he has heard from riders on the daily and has been working with the mayor’s office to address safety concerns.
“Riders want to see the cops in the areas where they feel a little more vulnerability. And that’s the platform’s and on the trains,” Lieber said.
“In fairness, the mayor has stepped up and the police commissioner stepped up and said not only are we using the cops who were in Transit, but the cops who are at surface level doing patrol are also going to come down into the system as well,” he added. “So, those are all good things. But people want to see the police.”
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