At the same time that the number of users who return to the New York City Subway after the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, also continue to rise, but without brake, the robberies and attacks on the mass transit system. The most recent figures released by the New York City Police Department (NYPD), show that crimes rose again in May, compared to April, mainly serious assaults.
The Uniformed data confirms that the serious assaults last month were 65, almost double compared to the 37 registered in April. In turn, felony crimes totaled 168 in May, a significant increase when contrasted with the 111 reported the previous month.
This increase in crime in the Big Apple subway is taking place as more passengers are returning to the Subway. The most recent data from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) show that since the beginning of the pandemic, last week the largest number of users was reported in one day, with 2.5 million.
And precisely adjusted for the number of passengers, the crime statistics of the NYPD show that there were 2.87 crimes per million passengers, an increase of 37% compared to April, and the highest rate since October, when 149 serious crimes and 3.1 crimes were registered per million passengers.
Organizations that defend the rights of users of the Subway have raised their voices calling for stronger measures against crime to lower these crime rates before September, when it is expected that many companies will already begin to receive more workers in their offices and consequently the number of passengers can return to normal levels of before the COVID-19, with more than 5 million using the trains daily.
It is expected that at the MTA Board of Directors meeting this Wednesday, the proposal to increase the number of uniformed NYPD officers on the Subway, as a way to persuade criminals to act.
Crime figures on the Subway in May:
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