Data from the NYPD has revealed that serious crime has not slowed down in New York City under Mayor Eric Adams, who recently dismissed fears about subway safety.
Compared to 2021, crimes increased by more than a third in the first two weeks of 2022. Police data shows an overall increase of 35.2 percent as of Sunday compared to 2021.
The Monday data reported that the tally of the felonies, which include car theft, robbery, rape, assault and grand larceny, rose 11 percent from 2020 and 24.6 percent from 2017.
Though they are not shown in the figures, shootings have also failed to slow down. The New York Post reported that Gotham has seen “52 acts of gunplay so far this January compared to 45 for the same period last year”.
In the first two weeks of 2022, car thefts have doubled since the same time last year, and grand larcenies are up 61.7 percent. Robberies are up 25.1 percent and felony assaults have slightly increased.
On Saturday morning, a homeless man allegedly shoved an Asian woman to her death in front of an oncoming subway train in Times Square. The incident has sparked fear in subway riders.
During a press conference, Adams said “New Yorkers are safe on the subway system”. “I think it’s about 1.7 percent of the crimes in New York City that occur on the subway system,” he added.
“Cases like this aggravate the perception of fear,” Adams said. “When you see homeless individuals with mental health issues not being attended to and given the proper services, that adds to the perception of fear”.
Many New Yorkers still do not feel safe riding public transportation as incidents happen every day. Sharon Zhao of Sunset Park, Brooklyn, said “People get pushed, people get stabbed — just regular people riding the train home from work”.
Adams said more officers have been placed on trains an platforms, adding “The proper plan was executed”. “But we don’t see how many lives we saved because of a proper plan like that”.