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.
Criminals are continuing to unleash bloodshed on innocent New York City subway riders going about their daily lives, with violent transit crime becoming almost a daily occurrence.
On Monday, a deranged criminal with a long rap sheet shoved a 54-year-old man onto the tracks in Harlem, with the victim then being struck by an oncoming train, according to police.
It came on a day when three stabbings took place in and around the Big Apple’s subway system, and on the same day, the city announced it was deploying 800 more police to patrol its crime-ridden subway system — even after around 750 National Guard troops were deployed to the underground system earlier this month and 1,000 additional police were added to the system in February.
Carlton McPherson is pictured in police custody leaving the NYPD 25th Precinct station house on March 26, 2024 in Manhattan, New York. McPherson is facing murder charges for the Monday evening random attack at the 125th St. No. 4 station when he allegedly shoved his victim onto the tracks. (Barry Williams for NY Daily News via Getty Images)
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Police say Carlton McPherson, 24, of the Bronx, was behind the deadly shove at the 125th Street and Lexington Avenue station in an unprovoked attack at around 7 p.m.
McPherson has been charged with murder for allegedly pushing the unidentified man on the tracks. The victim was then fatally hit by an incoming 4 train as it arrived at the station and could not stop on time.
According to several reports, McPherson has a long history of mental health issues and has been collared several times.
He was arrested last October on assault, menacing, harassment and other charges in Brooklyn, according to the New York Daily News. The publication, citing court documents, reports that when he was arraigned, he was released without bail but was arrested again when he failed to show up to court.
But he was let out on bail again after being picked up by police, and a judge issued a second warrant. He was arrested for a third time for the initial crime in January, and bail was set at $2,000, which he paid, the New York Daily News reports.
NYPD Transit officers on the 125th Street platform after a person was pushed into the path of a train. (Sam Costanza for NY Daily News via Getty Images)
Monday’s series of stabbings kicked off in Brooklyn at around 4:30 a.m., when a 52-year-old man was stabbed multiple times in the back during a feud over smoking inside the Kosciuszko Street J train station, according to the New York Post. The alleged stabber fled out onto the street, where he was quickly taken into custody, with charges pending, police said.
Just a few hours later, at around 8 a.m. on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, a 26-year-old man was stabbed in the buttocks in an unprovoked attack at West 96th Street and Broadway, just steps away from the subway station, the Post reports.
Then, at around 11:40 a.m., a female attacker in Brooklyn knifed another woman in the back with an unknown object by the turnstile area at the Franklin Avenue C train station in Bedford-Stuyvesant, the Post reports. The injured woman was taken to a local hospital, where she was listed in stable condition.
Members of the NYPD and National Guard conduct randomized bag searches in New York City’s subway system on Monday, March 11, 2024. Governor 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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Meanwhile, an NYPD officer was fatally shot in Far Rockaway when he was investigating a car being parked illegally Monday.
Police say Officer Jonathan Diller was killed after a suspect displayed a firearm and pointed it at them when he refused to exit the car, striking Diller in the torso. The New York Post reports that the suspect, 34-year-old Guy Rivera, has 21 prior arrests.
A recent analysis by the Post revealed that the number of attacks on trains that left victims injured jumped 53% when comparing 2023’s 570 felony assaults to the 373 reported in 2019.
On Monday, New York City announced plans to intensify a crackdown on subway fare-beating by sending at least 800 police officers specifically to keep watch on turnstiles.
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There have been more than 1,700 arrests for turnstile-jumping and over 28,000 fare evasion tickets issued so far this year, data shows.
Police and Mayor Eric Adams, a former transit officer himself, in recent weeks have suggested some links between fare-skipping and violence on the trains.
For instance, earlier this month, a man was shot in the head with his own gun after a brawl in a packed subway car. The man who was armed with the gun had walked through an emergency gate and did not pay his fare, police said.
This photo provided by the New York City Police Department shows police officer Jonathan Diller, who was killed in the line of duty on Monday, March 25, 2024, in New York. According to the city's mayor and police, Diller was shot and killed during a traffic stop in the Far Rockaway section of Queens. (New York City Police Department via AP)
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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