Photos by DailyMail.com captured vagrants passed out on the New York City subway trains and platforms on Tuesday morning – one day after Mayor Eric Adams’ plan to combat crime and homelessness on the subways went into effect.
Adams announced his plan to improve safety aboard the city’s subways on Friday after hundreds of random attacks on New Yorkers, and complaints about mentally ill homeless people threatening commuters and leaving drugs paraphernalia around.
The scheme, which officially began on Monday, involves sending more police into the subways to crack down on sleeping, littering, smoking, doing drugs or hanging out in the system. It also includes changes that are supposed to connect more homeless people, many of whom have mentally illness, substance abuse problems or both, to mental-health services and permanent housing.
But within hours of the plan coming into effect, there were two serious incidents on the subway system; a man who was attacked by a hatchet, and a woman who was slammed in the face by a metal bar.
Evelina Rivera, a 30-year-old chef, said a deranged homeless man hit her so hard with a metal shower rod that he bent her nose ring and left her bloodied.
And even a day later, little seems to have changed.
Photos by DailyMail.com show vagrants sleeping on New York City subways and at platforms Tuesday morning, sprawled out on the subway seats in each of the five boroughs as they covered themselves with blankets and jackets as they tried to keep warm in the February weather.
Some appeared to be unconscious, not even moving as the subway reached its final stop and crews were cleaning the cars.
Photos by DailyMail.com captured vagrants passed out on the New York City subway trains and platforms on Tuesday morning – one day after Mayor Eric Adams’ plan to combat crime and homelessness on the subways went into effect
One man was seen sprawled out across the subway bench on the E Train on Tuesday morning as people commuted to work
It is unclear how many homeless people take shelter in the subways, but an annual survey in January 2021 shared an estimated figure at 1,300 during the pandemic
Homeless people on the subways have been blamed for much of the city’s transit crimes
Evelina Rivera, a 30-year-old chef, was struck by a homeless man wielding a metal pole on her way home from her shift on Monday morning
Adams vowed on Friday to combat the rising crime and homeless rates on the subway, unveiling his new safety plan
It is unclear exactly how many homeless people live in the subway, but an annual survey in January 2021 shared an estimated figure at 1,300 — and that was when the subway system would be closed for four hours every night for disinfecting. The number of homeless people in the system is believed to have increased ever since. Prior to the pandemic, 1,700 people were living in the subway in January 2020.
Meanwhile, New York City’s subway carried more than five million riders on an average weekday before the coronavirus pandemic; the weekday average is now about three million.
Crime has been rising on the subway system since the pandemic began.
Last year, the rates of violent acts on the subway per million weekday passengers were up in almost every crime category compared with 2019. Thirty people were pushed onto the tracks, which is ten people more compared to 20 in 2019 and nine in 2017, NYPD said. Felony assaults in the system went up nearly 25 percent, despite fewer passengers riding the subways due to the effects of the pandemic.
Slashings on the subway system have also increased, with 182 reported in 2021, compared to 141 reported in 2020.
And, NYPD Transit Bureau Statistics also showed subway robberies are up nearly 47 percent in the last month, compared to the same time in 2021, and grand larceny cases jumped 88 percent.
Another woman was seen sleeping on some of her belongings on the subway bench on the No. 4 train
A homeless man was seen sleeping on the last stop of the No. 4 train on Tuesday, one day after Mayor Eric Adams’ plan to escort homeless people on the subway into housing units went into effect
Others took shelter inside the stations, like this woman, who used jackets and blankets to keep her warm
One woman was seen bundled up on the bench at the Northern Boulevard, Queens stop with her belongings on Tuesday
Prior to the pandemic, 1,700 people were living in the subway in January 2020, according to a survey
Under Mayor Eric Adams plan, police would crack down on people sleeping on the subways and move them into shelters
New York City’s subway carried more than five million riders on an average weekday before the coronavirus pandemic; the weekday average is now about three million
In recent weeks, a woman was pushed in front of a train and killed under Times Square, and even the mayor said he didn’t feel entirely safe riding the nation’s busiest subway system.
In a statement, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which runs the subways said they know ‘that there are people in the subway system who need help and must and will be helped. But they can’t stay in the subway system.’
The homeless issue came to a head over the weekend, when the city recorded half a dozen attacks on innocent bystanders in the New York City subway system.
Six people were stabbed or slashed in the subway stations or trains, with two female teenagers arrested in one of those attacks, accused of slashing a 74-year-old man in the face, pushing him to the ground and taking his cell phone on Saturday afternoon after he argued with them while they smoked on a train.
Then on Monday, just hours before the safety plan went into effect, a man was attacked with a hatchet at around 12.30am in a Brooklyn subway stop.
Kyle Westby, 42, was on his way home from a late dinner out with his girlfriend when he arrived at the Prospect Heights station and saw two men, one of whom asked ‘Why are you staring at me,’ the New York Post reports.
As of January 1, there have been 276 instances of crime in NYC’s subway system – up 65 percent compared to the same period last year
Stabbing incidents on the subways, were also up, with more than 40 more stabbings in 2021 than in 2020
‘I saw him reach into his jacket and pull out a brown object,’ Westby told the Post. ‘He swung at me, and I ran away, so I ran up the stairs and thank God the cops were there.
‘I said “Officers, this man swung at me with an ax.” Immediately, they went down and apprehended him.’
Police report they took Robert Griffith, 58, into custody following the attack, and charged him with attempted assault, menacing and criminal possession of a weapon, saying Griffith also allegedly had a punch dagger and screwdriver.
Hours later, Rivera was attacked.
She was on her way home on a No. 4 train heading to the Bronx at 2.39am when a homeless man, who had earlier poured honey over himself, asked her and another female passenger: ‘Oh would you guys just shut the f*** up?’
‘We’re like, “Anyway,” and we keep talking, and he’s like “I’ll make you shut up,’ she told the Post.
At that point, she said, the man tried to strike the other woman, ‘misses her by a millimeter’ and instead broke the subway window, as the would-be victim used pepper spray to blind him.
Unable to see, Rivera said, the man started swinging wildly and ‘hit me so hard the ball came out of my [septum] piercing. It’s crooked.’
Rivera said she was ‘about to have a panic attack’ following the attack,’ and she and the other woman got off at the next stop to report the incident to police.
But when the cops showed up, the Post reports, they patrolled the subway to look for the suspect, who is described as having facial piercings and was last see wearing all black, but were unable to find him.
In the aftermath of the violent weekend, MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said the attacks should not be considered ‘normal.’
‘People who would prey on New Yorkers riding transit should get the message that it’s not going to be tolerated,’ he said in a statement to the New York Times, adding they ‘underscore the urgent need’ for the new safety plan.
A spokesman for the mayor, Fabien Levy, also said that Adams strongly condemned the attacks, noting that they ‘shouldn’t be subject to sweeping generalizations.
‘We should not conflate such isolated acts of violence on the subway with broad statements about the behavioral and mental health challenges the city is confronting, or the issue of aiding those experiencing homeless that the mayor’s plan directly addresses.’
In announcing the plan on Friday, Adams said it is ‘cruel and inhumane’ for homeless people to sleep on the trains, and is unfair to other riders and transit workers.
‘No more just doing whatever you want,’ Adams, who campaigned on improving public safety, said at a news conference at a Lower Manhattan subway station. ‘Those days are over. Swipe your MetroCard, ride the system, get off at your destination. That’s what this administration is saying.’
‘People tell me about their fear of using the system,’ Adams said. ‘And we’re going to ensure that fear is not New York’s reality.’
A stabbing victim’s blood could be seen staining the wall and floor at the Canal Street station in Manhattan on Sunday night
Police say the 31-year-old victim was riding a southbound 6 train when he was attacked without any provocation by a knife-wielding stranger, who stabbed him twice in the arm
Police officers are seen investigating at the scene of Sunday’s stabbing, one of several over the weekend
