Felony assaults in the subway up 42% compared to three years ago; Union demands more mental health and police resources

APRIL 30 -- A subway rider spat in a subway worker’s face, brandished a razor blade, and threatened, “I’ll stab you” this morning in Queens. The violent outburst occurred at the end of the F line in Queens when a Train Operator roused the man from his sleep at approximately 10:30 at the 179th St station.

"The subway system desperately needs more resources - mental health services, homeless outreach workers and police officers to protect my members and riders,” TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano said. “This has to stop. Every single day there's an incident like this." Felony assaults from January through late April are up about 17% compared to the same period last year, up 24% compared to the same time period two years ago – and up 42% compared to the same time period three years ago, according to the latest police statistics.

Ridership, meanwhile, is a fraction of what it was pre-pandemic. More than 5 million people rode the subway in 2018 and 2019. The weekday average now is about 1.8 million riders. Far fewer riders, more serious crime.

Trains are regularly cleared of passengers at the end of subway lines so they can be cleaned or sent to the rail yard to be temporarily parked without riders on board. Overall crime is down in the subway system because the largest category is grand larceny committed by pickpockets. That’s driving down the statistics and masking the very real problem with mentally ill homeless in the system.