New York wants homeless people off the subway

Authorities in New York pledged on Friday to kick the massive subway system out of the countless homeless people who survive but are singled out in the recent surge in crime.

• Read also: Record crime in Manhattan against people of Asian descent

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, rates of delinquency and extreme poverty have increased in New York City, particularly in the metro, without however reaching the levels of the 1980s-90s.

Elected in November on a program to fight crime, the mayor

Democrat, but classified in the center right Eric Adams, a former African-American policeman, announced that he had instructed the police force and social workers of the municipality to evict anyone who took refuge in the train cars, in the corridors or on the docks.

“The network is not made to house, but to transport” people, he hammered during a press briefing.

The mayor, who took office on January 1 and had to respond to a succession of assaults and shootings, also promised that the New York police (NYPD) would crack down on smokers and drug addicts on the subway.

The platforms and trains of the New York subway – with aging infrastructure – have been frequented since the pandemic by a number of homeless people who can annoy travelers more or less aggressively, according to municipal authorities.

According to Mr. Adams, measures are planned so that social workers and police can refer homeless people to shelters or hospitals.

The Governor of New York State, Kathy Hochul, clarified alongside her that she would demand the creation of reception centers and 500 additional beds, in a megalopolis of nine million inhabitants with deep socio-economic inequalities. .

According to the NYPD, there were 488 homicides in 2021 in the city, up slightly from the sharp increase in 2020 (468 homicides compared to 319 in 2019).

Violent crimes have increased by 25% in the metro between 2019 and 2021. But all crimes in the metro represent only 2% of all crimes committed in the gigantic city with five districts (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx , Staten Island).

In January, Michelle Go, a 40-year-old Asian American, died after being pushed down a subway track by a homeless man with a psychiatric disorder as a train pulled into the Times Square station. beating heart of very posh Manhattan.

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