New York straphangers weigh in on subway crime
A rise in robberies and transit crime has New Yorkers on edge and authorities stepping up patrols and taking other measures to make the subway safer.
NEW YORK CITY – New York subway riders are weighing in after Gov. Kathy Hochul sent in the National Guard and state troopers to help the NYPD secure Big Apple subway stations amid fears of crime and chaos.
Many support the move after recent mayhem included surveillance video showing a man at a Manhattan subway station hurling flaming cans at people through a turnstile.
The week capped off with dramatic eyewitness video of a man shot in the head with his own gun after a brawl in a packed subway car.
On Friday, the NYPD revealed the victim also displayed a knife or razor blade during the scuffle, and did not pay the fare at the turnstile.
WATCH: Terrified passengers record subway shooting
Random shoving attacks on the city's subway platforms have also left people killed or severely injured by oncoming trains, and last week an ex-con was accused of ditching his ankle monitor before shoving his ex into a moving train in Manhattan during an argument.
An NYPD officer patrols a subway station in New York City Monday, March 11, 2024. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a five-point plan earlier this month, deploying 750 members of the National Guard to combat a near 20% rise in crime levels throughout the subways. (Matthew McDermott for Fox News Digital)
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A conductor who survived having his neck slashed at random on the job told the New York Post over the weekend he never plans to get on another subway train.
"It's not safe."
And straphangers have reported incidents of indecent exposure and other deviant behavior they say increased police patrols would combat.
WATCH: New York straphangers weigh in on subway crime
"It's not safe," one rider, Gabriela, told Fox News Digital this week.
Another rider, Tally, said she avoids the trains at night and prefers to take an Uber during off hours.
Members of the NYPD and National Guard conduct random bag searches in New York City’s subway system Monday, March 11, 2024. (Matthew McDermott for Fox News Digital)
"We need more jobs in this country, so they should hire more officers," added David.
VIDEO: Man throws cans of fire at strangers in NYC subway station
NYPD crime statistics show robberies and transit crime have both risen in the Big Apple so far in 2024 compared to last year, and the string of high-profile violent incidents have travelers on edge.
Commuters travel through a subway tunnel in midtown Manhattan on Monday, March 11, 2024. (Matthew McDermott for Fox News Digital)
"I think no one really feels safe," Tally said. "But I see officers and I see an effort being made. So, I don't know. I don't know where the solution would be."
Hochul sent the National Guard last week to assist the NYPD with random bag checks, which were reimplemented by Mayor Eric Adams in an effort to curb the violence.
"For people who are thinking about bringing a gun or knife on the subway, at least this creates a deterrent effect," she told reporters March 6. "They might be thinking, 'You know what, it just may just not be worth it because I listened to the mayor and I listened to the governor, and they have a lot more people who are going to be checking my bags.'"
Members of the NYPD and National Guard conduct random bag searches in New York City’s subway system Monday, March 11, 2024. (Matthew McDermott for Fox News Digital)
She also proposed a law that would ban people from the subway system if they are convicted of assaulting a fellow passenger and adding cameras to trains after the conductor slashing.
Adams also announced he would increase NYPD patrols on the subway system to fight the crime spike. And amid those increased patrols, NYPD officers were already able to rescue a man who fell onto tracks in the Bronx before a train arrived.
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WATCH: NYPD officers spring into action to save man from subway tracks
But not everyone was receptive to the bag checks, which prompted some angry grumbling from commuters running late.
Another potential straphanger turned around when he saw the bag station, even though authorities had not stopped him at random.
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Members of the NYPD and National Guard patrol the subway system in New York City Monday, March 11, 2024. (Matthew McDermott for Fox News Digital)
He declined to give his name but said he escaped communist Romania as a child and came to the U.S. He called the bag checks "unconstitutional."
"It doesn't matter what your politics are," he said. "They need probable cause to search you."
With transit crime plaguing the city, critics of progressive district attorneys in four of the five boroughs have complained about low- and no-bail releases of repeat offenders while a Marine Corps veteran is being prosecuted in the death of an erratic passenger who was terrifying fellow riders in May.
NYC MAN SCREAMING ABOUT KNIFE, HOLDING MOTHER IN CHOKEHOLD SHOT DEAD ON NYPD BODYCAM
Members of the NYPD and National Guard randomly search bags in New York City’s subway system Monday, March 11, 2024. (Matthew McDermott for Fox News Digital)
Daniel Penny, 24, is facing charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide after he placed Jordan Neely, 30, in a chokehold while Neely was shouting at and threatening passengers on a Manhattan F train. Neely, who had dozens of prior arrests, including multiple subway assaults, died in the encounter.
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Penny has been released on $100,000 bail and is due back in court next week.
Daniel Penny departs Manhattan Criminal Court following his arraignment, June 28, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
"I'm not comfortable with my wife and my children taking the subway right now," said Staten Island attorney Louis Gelormino. He said the city's crime problems began spiraling out of control after Bill de Blasio abandoned the tough-on-crime policies of his predecessors, Rudy Giuliani and Mike Bloomberg.
"We have to have the [National Guard] to go there and protect our subways when we have the best police department in the entire world, to navigate that system and protect us, is ridiculous."
Members of the National Guard and the NYPD randomly search bags in New York City’s subway system Monday, March 11, 2024. (Matthew McDermott for Fox News Digital)
In addition to hiring more police, he said, New Yorkers could try electing new district attorneys.
"Other than Mike McMahon in Staten Island, who happens to do a very good job, the district attorneys in this city have all fallen under that major liberal, progressive attitude where they don't want to prosecute crimes," Gelormino said. "And it seems like they're very selective on who they prosecute crimes against. We need to vote for different district attorneys."
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The subways appeared unusually empty outside rush hour Monday.
The city is losing tens of thousands of residents as illegal immigrants and migrants continue to pour in.
About 78,000 people ditched the Big Apple in 2023, The New York Times reported Thursday. That's on top of 126,000 in 2022, and more than half a million residents left between April 2020 and July 2023, according to the paper.
Fox News' Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.
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