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The number of assaults and murders on New York City’s MTA in 2021 recorded its highest number since 1997, according to data from the NYPD, 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 on the New York subway.
Likewise, eight rapes were perpetrated last year, a figure only surpassed in 2012 when ten were recorded.
On the other hand, compared to the increase in these crimes in 2021, thefts and robberies with violence decreased compared to other years.
These data were released after a meeting held 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 in violence since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kathleen O’Reilly, head of transit at the NYPD, noted during the meeting that 1,000 officers are deployed daily on subway cars and platforms.
The figures presented today are more relevant now given that subway ridership remains 43% below pre-pandemic levels.
The committee’s monthly meeting coincides with a time of heightened controversy over the safety of subway travel in New York, after a woman was pushed onto the train tracks on January 5 by a homeless man with psychiatric problems, who allegedly chose his victim at random.
Also, the meeting has taken place on the same day that the new mayor of New York. Eric Adams, has unveiled a comprehensive plan to address the city’s two-year gun violence crisis.
