NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — There are new concerns about the safety of the subway amid the dramatic drop in ridership caused from the coronavirus pandemic.
With less people riding on the city’s subways, burglaries and robberies aboard trains have increased during the year, according to the NYPD.
Also worrisome is instances in which two people were pushed onto the train tracks, including an elderly grandmother trying to defend her grandson from an attacker.
New York City Interim Transit President Sarah Feinberg says the uptick in crime is troubling and she has been urging the NYPD to help.
“We've consistently urged the NYPD to do more in partnership with us, to do more generally and to have more significant active presence in the subway system,” she said Wednesday.
Summonses and fines within the city’s subway network have dropped for the year by 60% in comparison to 2019 and Feinberg says that shows enforcement levels.
“The only way the system stays safe and secure is if the NYPD are our partners and we want, very much, to work with them to get safety and security to a better place,” she said.
MTA Chairman Pat Foye notes that for enforcement to increase, there needs to be more officers patrolling the subway network.
“We need a more effective and significant presence in the subways,” he said.
The NYPD’s Chief of Transit does note that subway crime was down 50% in September 2020 in comparison to September 2019.
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