TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano blasts Mayor for saying subway riders with safety concerns should be laughed at
May 7 -- TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano today issued this statement in reaction to Mayor de Blasio's refusal to recognize the severity of crime in the subway system:
"Mayor de Blasio’s shameless political hackery has reached new depths.
"The mayor said that “a real New Yorker” would not be afraid of riding the subway. He said any subway rider with safety concerns should be “laughed out of the room.”
"Clearly and unfortunately, the mayor has future political ambitions, and he wants to foster this fiction that everything is wonderful in the transit system. The fact that he made these comments hours after a transit worker was nearly killed, and during a steady drumbeat of erratic, alarming and dangerous conduct in the subway, much of it by people with serious mental health issues, is stunning and outrageous. Transit riders, workers and all voters will remember this betrayal."
Here are the Mayor’s comments as reported in the Daily News:
https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-subway-stabbing-slash-overnight-20210506-ns4jasm4rzcbxjoipnssufjvju-story.html