The number of assaults and murders in the New York subway registered its highest number since 1997 in 2021, according to data from the City Police, which also reflects a decrease in robberies committed against users of this urban transport.
Between January and December 2021, eight murders were committed, two more than in 2020, and 461 assaults were recorded, a figure not seen since 1997, when there were 501 violent assaults in the New York subway.
Also, last year eight violations were perpetrated, a figure only surpassed in 2012 when ten were recorded.
On the other hand, given the increase in these crimes in 2021, thefts and robberies with violence decreased compared to other years.
These data were published after a meeting held this Monday by the New York Transportation Committee, where it was stressed that crimes committed in the subway represent 1.7% of the total recorded in New York, which in general has experienced an increase of violence since the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic.
The head of the City Police Transportation Department, Kathleen O’Reilly, highlighted during the meeting that a thousand agents are deployed daily in wagons and platforms of the transportation network.
The figures presented today are more relevant considering that the level of use of the metro continues to be 43% below the levels prior to the pandemic.
The committee’s monthly meeting coincides with a time when controversy over the safety of subway travel in New York has reignited, after a woman was pushed onto the train tracks on January 5 by a troubled homeless man. psychiatrists, who allegedly chose his victim at random.
Also, the meeting has taken place the same day as the new mayor of New York. Eric Adams has released a comprehensive plan to deal with the crisis of armed violence that the city has been suffering for two years.