In relation to combatting hovering crime, particularly within the metropolis’s subways, Mayor Eric Adams wants to start out chugging alongside a lot sooner — stat.
On Monday, Adams rolled out his comprehensive subway safety plan to a gradual begin, particularly after a violent vacation weekend that included a string of stabbings and an assault with a steel pole.
But the dangerous information has saved coming, together with a Thursday night time hammer attack in the Queens Plaza station that left a girl in vital situation, a second metal-pole assault — this time as a result of the sufferer dared to inform his attacker to not shoot up on a J prepare — and a disturbing MTA report that a whole lot of homeless individuals are residing in stations and tunnels.
Adams describes his plan’s no-nonsense objective as two-pronged: crack down on subway rule-breakers and get vagrants into shelters.
“No extra smoking. No extra doing medicine. No extra sleeping. No extra doing barbecues on the subway system. No extra simply doing no matter you need,” mentioned the mayor. “No. These days are over. Swipe your MetroCard. Experience the system. Get off at your vacation spot. That’s what this administration is saying.”
The plan entails mobilizing 30 specialised groups of cops, homeless-outreach employees and behavioral clinicians into high-priority stations.
However on Monday, The Put up visited 4 of the six subway stations Metropolis Corridor ID’d as “highest want” and solely noticed any employees at two places, and so they have been working solo.
“They have been speculated to have police [with us today], however no,” mentioned one of many outreach employees. “We’re super-understaffed so it could be nice in the event that they rent extra folks.”
The additional patrols are to run between 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. They’re wanted. Adams’ plan remains to be not sufficient, particularly given the grim findings about homeless dwelling within the system.
And let’s recap a couple of extra weekend incidents, to offer the total ugly context. Final Sunday, per police, a person who seemed to be homeless beat a girl, 30, with a pole on a southbound 4 prepare close to East 167th Avenue after telling her to cease speaking to her buddy. The afternoon earlier than, a 20-year-old lady suffered a punching and stabbing by the tracks at Brooklyn’s Livonia Avenue/Van Siclen station.
That night time noticed two different slashings, one on the 168th Avenue station in Washington Heights and one on the 116th Avenue Columbia College station in Morningside Heights.
A 22-year-old man obtained punched within the face and robbed as he entered the Occasions Sq. station early Monday, whereas a 31-year-old man was stabbed on a downtown 6 prepare because it approached the Canal Avenue station in Decrease Manhattan simply after 6 p.m. Sunday.
When you attempt to keep away from the subways and journey by automobile, you’re additionally taking your life in your palms: a Staten Island couple obtained mugged of their driveway final week, and a Queens man was stabbed throughout a carjack.
Get it collectively sooner, Mr. Mayor.
