Recent instances of violence on New York City’s metro have left passengers anxious and on edge, a stark contrast to the attempts of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) administration to downplay the situation. MTA board member Gerard Bringmann expressed exasperation over the portrayal of the transit system as a hotbed of crime and insecurity. He said, ‘We’re doing everything we can to ensure safety on our subway system, but people seem to be grasping a different narrative.’ Despite top officials of the transit authority asserting that New York’s subway is among the safest in the country, the city’s regular commuters feel they are the ones being ignored by the MTA.
In an alarming development, felonious assaults on the city’s subway have notched up by 9% this year compared to the previous year. A lifetime city dweller, a constant subway user for three decades, voiced her rising fears about the escalating crime rate. In her words, ‘The growing crime wave makes subway commuting intimidating.’ She added, ‘The situation has been deteriorating for the past couple of years.’
Echoing similar sentiments, another citizen from Manhattan chose to remain anonymous while expressing her concerns. She stated, ‘Everyday subway commuting was once my routine. But the steep increase in crime forced me to abandon it. The city is already grappling with crime on the surface; one doesn’t need additional risks underground.’ Her solution to getting back on the subway? ‘I would consider commuting again provided I had a physically imposing bodyguard.’
Contrary to the MTA’s safety assurances, many still harbor doubts about the subway’s safety. Governor Kathy Hochul’s congestion pricing initiative, designed to encourage more people to use the apparently unsafe subway, is among the elements under criticism. A skeptical voice quipped, ‘The Governor doesn’t need to use the subway; she has a chauffeured service. Perhaps considering the experiences of daily MTA riders isn’t her priority, but it needs to be.’
Further compounding the intensifying security concerns is the fact that serious assault cases in the subway have increased by 9% this year and a whopping 55% when compared to the same period in 2019, a fact backed by the city’s police data. One such incident involved a 29-year-old man being violently thrust against a No. 2 train at the West 96th Street and Broadway intersection. The culprit fled the scene and remains at large.
In the face of mounting criticism, the MTA Chairman maintains that crime in the city’s system is not spiraling out of control. He insists that New York Subway Management has the situation under control and the city’s system is safer compared to several other major urban centers. The chairman mentions a comprehensive report compiled by the authority that outlines numerous implemented safety and security enhancements.
The MTA Chairman’s confidence appears to stem from an assertion that, when looking at crime rates per capita, New York’s subway is among the safest in the country. MTA Police Chief Thomas Taffe supplements this assurance by stating that overall crime on city subways has seen a 2.2% reduction since March and an 18% decrease over this quarter. According to him, these statistics corroborate the fact that the subway system is a safe environment for commuters.
Backing up these assertions is the fact that the MTA has now installed over 135,000 surveillance cameras across the entire transit system, encompassing trains, subways, bridges, and tunnels. These technological measures contribute to the comprehensive safety infrastructure set in place to help counter crime and ensure the ongoing safety of daily commuters on the New York transit system.