Murders, Robberies Surge in NYC subway

But hey, crime is down overall. Or not being reported... it is hard to say which is true. Exclusive | Murders, robberies surge in NYC subway, NYPD data shows

If you've been living under a rock, you might not have known about the recent, high-profile murder in NYC.

A maniac repeat-offender pushed an elderly man to his death on Manhattan subway stairs Thursday, cops said — the fourth homicide in or around the subway this year, up from just one a year ago at this time.

Because the attack started "above ground" (or at the top of the stairs) NYPD did not count this as a transit crime. Of course not, because why would you want to include a murder on the stairs of the transit system as being committed in the transit system?.

Robbery in the transit system has also shot up by 18% so far in 2026 over the same span last year, to 156 from 132, according to NYPD data.

Felony assault is down 6% so far this year, to 209 from 221, but has increased 16% over the same period in 2024 and 60% from seven years ago.

So is crime up, or down? You decide. And you can click thru for more statistics.

NYPD says that arrests are up. No mention of what the DA is doing with all those arrests, or how long people arrested for violent crimes actually spend in jail.

Why the hell does anyone want to live in NYC?

Take Public Transit? Maybe When It Is Safe

Didn't NYC just institute a tax for driving to force people onto transit? Exclusive | NYC train, bus robberies climb 21% from same period last year

There were 128 muggings on trains and buses as of April 5, a 21% surge over the 106 from the same period last year and experts fear it will get worse.

Felony assaults ticked down 6% in the same period, from 171 to 160, but that sum does not include the three horrific attacks on innocent straphangers Saturday by an unhinged, machete-wielding maniac. Assaults are up 60% when compared to pre-Covid 2019.

Mamdani's solution? Cut the NYPD budget.

Under former Mayor Eric Adams, the NYPD deployed 300 additional officers for train patrols in January 2025 to combat crime and improve the perception of safety. The cops specifically targeted overnight shifts with two officers per train.

Crime went down under that initiative, but overtime cuts in February under Mayor Mamdani’s new administration reduced those patrols.

Because things will magically get better on their own, or something.

Now I understand the NYC is broke, but maybe they should prioritize public safety a bit higher. I know the democrats won't do that.

Crazy People Are Riding Public Transit

Crazy people are dangerous, and making NYC transit the kind of place to avoid. Machete-wielding NYC maniac who slashed 3 elderly straphangers at Grand Central Terminal called himself ‘Lucifer’

A criminal slashed three elderly people with a machete — while calling himself “Lucifer” — in an unprovoked attack and was fatally shot by cops at Grand Central Terminal Saturday morning, police said.

This is the backdrop of NYC taxing people for NOT taking transit.

But they have that communist mayor doing stuff like cutting the NYPD, because reasons.

Officers also “attempted to deescalate” and offer assistance, saying “We are going to get you help,” Tisch told reporters.

But Griffin advanced toward them with the blade extended, she said.

“One officer discharged his firearm striking the perpetrator twice,” Tisch said.

It is a good thing that legal, defensive weapons are not allowed on NYC transit; someone might have been hurt. Or something.

Ride Public Transit? Maybe When It Is Safe

That doesn't seem like it will be for a very long time. Sicko recorded himself stabbing sleeping train passenger to death on Chicago's Blue Line: prosecutors | New York Post

A maniac allegedly recorded himself fatally stabbing a sleeping train passenger on the same Chicago Transit Authority line 26-year-old where Bethany MaGee was set on fire by a lunatic with a extensive rap sheet just two months ago, according to prosecutors.

Demetrius Thurman, 40, allegedly crept up behind sleeping 37-year-old Dominique Pollion on the Blue Line train with his phone in one hand and a knife in the other and hit record before he stabbed Pollion in the chest and abdomen around 2:15 a.m. Saturday, CBS News reported.

What does this say about the value of a human life in our Blue Cities?

Safety has been an ongoing issue for Chicago’s public transit.

Ya think?

And this guy gets the award for Stupid Criminal of the Month, because he kept the video on his phone. Police were able to retrieve the video after they got a search warrant. He was identified by cameras, and arrested the day after the murder. I have very little hope for Justice in Cook County, however. (It is better than it was a few years back.)

Ride Public Transit They Said

Maybe if they can make it safe. Man on pretrial release tried to kill CTA passenger by pushing him onto the tracks: prosecutors - CWB Chicago

Tommie O. Carter, 39, has been ignoring a judge’s orders to check in with court officers since being charged in October with trespassing at a Loop building and spitting toward a Chicago police officer who took him into custody, according to court records.

He is now charged with attempted first-degree murder for a violent attack on Monday morning at the Harlem Blue Line station in Forest Park.

He pestered the 59-year-old victim for money. When the guy said he didn't have any cash, this guy knocked him down, and eventually pushed him onto the tracks in front of an oncoming train.

Carter closed the distance between them, pointed in the man’s face, and backed him down the ramp, the filing said. Carter then pushed the victim to the ground, but he was able to get up and move toward the platform. Carter followed him, struck him in the head, and then shoved him in the back with enough force to knock him off the platform and onto the Blue Line tracks, coming dangerously close to the electrified third rail, according to the detention document.

He suffered multiple fractures to one knee, and one fracture to the other.

CTA workers and a bystander went to his aid, and another CTA employee was able to cut power to the 3rd rail.

There have been at least 2 fatalities in 2025 from people coming into contact with the 3rd rail of the Chicago Transit Authority system.

It is no surprise that this guy is a frequent flyer with the Criminal Justice system in Chicago. Click thru for the details, and there are a lot of arrests.

And now attempted murder, and it is only by chance that the victim didn't fall on the 3rd rail.

Take public transit? I have not ridden on an El train in decades, and I have no plan to start now.

I miss living is a civilized society.

Take Public Transportation They Said

But they can't make it safe. NYPD search for suspect who slashed 2 men at Union Turnpike-Kew Gardens subway station in Queens - ABC7 New York

Police are searching for a suspect who slashed a 42-year-old man and 50-year-old man with a sharp object in two separate attacks at a Queens subway station.

The incidents occurred on the southbound "E" train platform at the Union Turnpike-Kew Gardens subway station around 3:15 p.m. on Wednesday.

And that is not the only incident.

This is from a couple of days back. Man stabbed during argument on Brighton Beach subway

Officers were alerted, and the suspect was taken into custody. The victim was also taken into custody after punching the suspect in the face during the course of the arrest.

Public transit sounds great, doesn't it? Two stories in about 2 days. Three crimes. Do we think the new, cop-hating mayor of NYC will make things better?

Chicago’s Public Transit Problems

There are a lot. From Chicago Contrarian: Chicago’s Transit Crisis

In 2026, the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) projected a $771 million operating shortfall across the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Metra, and Pace. Of that gap, roughly $605 million belongs to the CTA alone, a deficit large enough to swallow the entire budgets of many midsize cities. The pandemic’s federal lifeline money will expire, ridership remains well below pre-2020 levels, and the system’s labor and pension obligations continue to grow faster than its farebox revenue.

As a result, transit is facing some hard times, and hard choices. I have no doubt that they will just raise taxes on the people who don't use those transportation modes. (When I last paid any attention to the RTA, it was funded mostly be a tax on gasoline.)

CTA consists of the Chicago buses and the L trains, though they are not all elevated. There are plenty of subways, and once out of downtown, a fair number of trains run at ground level. Metra is commuter rail, running mostly on Amtrak lines to the suburbs, and Pace (if memory serves) are the buses that connect Cook County to the "collar counties." The counties surrounding Cook County pay into the slush fund that is the Regional Transportation Authority, which provides a lot of the funding.

In 2026, the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) projected a $771 million operating shortfall across the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Metra, and Pace. Of that gap, roughly $605 million belongs to the CTA alone, a deficit large enough to swallow the entire budgets of many midsize cities. The pandemic’s federal lifeline money will expire, ridership remains well below pre-2020 levels, and the system’s labor and pension obligations continue to grow faster than its farebox revenue. In a city that still relies on its century-old idea of “public transit,” its finances now look increasingly unsustainable even with many firms now mandating five days in person workdays.

An interesting (to me) part of the article is the history. Once upon a time, transit was privately run in Chicago. The city capped fares, and kept those caps in place for decades, driving the firms out of business.

This was part of a broader post-war American trend. Every major city including New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles took its private transit monopolies and made them public monopolies instead. Economists called it “municipalization.” Politicians called it “progress.” Either way, the discipline of the market was replaced by the inertia of government. As Ronald Reagan said, “If it moves tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. If it stops moving, subsidize it.”

This issue is only one "fiscal cliff" facing Chicago, and I have no faith that Mayor Brandon Johnson is up to the task.

Transit Violence Around the Nation

They want to force people (they call it "encourage") to ride transit, but it isn't safe. Transit violence surges across US cities with deadly attacks nationwide | Fox News

The killing of a commuter aboard a North Carolina train is the latest act of violence affecting the United States’ public transit systems, as reports of other attacks continue to alarm riders.

While the death of Iryna Zarutska shined a light on the state of transit, it isn't the first incident.

Things were so bad in New York City that Governor Hochul sent the National Guard into the subway in March of last year. They are still there. That was a good thing. A Democrat using the National Guard for law enforcement in crime-ridden, blue city. When Trump did it in Washington DC that was bad, because reasons.

A New York City subway rider was killed after being set on fire while sleeping on a train in Brooklyn last year.

Debrina Kawam, 57, was asleep on a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station when a man, later identified as Sebastian Zapeta, 33, allegedly approached her before pulling out a lighter and setting her clothes on fire. Surveillance video of the attack shows Kawam standing up while engulfed in flames.

There are more incidents from Daniel Penny and Jordan Neely, to an incident in Chicago. Click thru.

I miss living in a civilized society.

Ride Public Transit? Only When It Is Safe

From The Daily Breeze, a story out of California. Are we shocked? Metro guard shoots man in self-defense after suspect stabs 2 guards in North Hollywood

If the armed guards are getting stabbed, I'm thinking that transit isn't quite as safe as driving in a locked car.

A Metro security guard shot a man in self-defense after being stabbed along with another guard in an unprovoked attack at the Metro North Hollywood Station on Saturday, May 31, authorities said.

The man appeared "agitated" after he was issued a citation. Does anyone think drugs may have been involved?

The two guards are expected to be OK. The guy who got shot was taken to a hospital in critical condition.

Someone (Small Dead Animals?) used to say that riding public transit was like sharing your car with 20 random hitchhikers.

Self-defense is a human-right, though I'm not sure whether most people in Hollywood agree with that statement.

Take Public Transit? Maybe When It's Safe

And it isn't safe. But then is any part of NYC safe? Stranger fatally stabs NYC man during broad-daylight fight over seat on MTA bus: cops

New York City is more like the Gotham of DC comics every year.

Alvin Francis was riding a shuttle bus along the J train route just before 2 p.m. Sunday at Crescent and Etna Streets in Cypress Hills in Brooklyn when a feud erupted between him and a backpack-wearing passenger over seating, cops and sources said.

The only "description" of the bad guy provided by either the police, or The NY Post, is that he was "wearing a gray sweat suit." No one had a description? Height. Weight. Race? Or was all of that memory-holed for some reason?

If public transit isn't safe at 2PM on a Sunday afternoon, when would it be safe.

This is end result of a couple of decades of Liberal, soft-on-crime policies in the Blue Cities, and Blue States.

I miss living in a civilized society.

>Here is the reference to "The Second Coming" by Yeats that these incidents usually call to mind.

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

This may actually be more in line with Hobbes' Leviathan. The idea that security is required for civilization to endure is not new. Hobbes published Leviathan in 1651. In that book he describes the State of War that ensues when law and order break down.

Western Civilization is built on a foundation of law and order. Without law and order, you can't have nice things. You can't have anything really. Or as Hobbes stated it, when there is no force-of-law to keep people in check, things break down.

e-Bike Explodes into Flames on London Underground Platform

I'll take "Reasons not to bring large lithium-ion batteries into enclosed spaces" for $1000, Alex. Ban e-bikes or we’ll strike, threaten London Underground drivers after platform fire

Firefighters responded to an burning e-bike, destroyed by the fire, with no reported injuries from the incident.

The Aslef union claimed that an internal London Underground investigation concluded that the e-bike was “only moments away from boarding the train”.

30 seconds later and he would have been on a train with the doors closed. All that toxic smoke could have killed people in an enclosed space.

The transit unions are now pushing for a ban on e-bikes. I doubt they will get it, since e-bikes are the darling of the environmental crowd.

So, if an e-bike bursts into flame, and puts off loads of toxic smoke, does it still count as a "zero emission" vehicle? (Hat tip to MGUY Australia.)

Use the NYC Subway? Maybe When It's Safe

I don't expect it to be safe in my lifetime. NYC overnight subway violence includes man beaten in mugging , another slashed over innocent bump: cops

The powers that be are still not putting bad guys in jail. So the law abiding are the only people paying the price for crime.

An outbreak of random violence erupted in the subway overnight, in which a thug slashed one man over an innocent bump and a gang of crooks pummeled a man during a mugging that netted just $15, cops said.

This the environment that the people trying to run NYC want to force people to use, by making it too expensive to drive in NYC.

First the eliminated lanes of traffic for pedestrian lanes and bike lanes. (Pedestrians can't walk on the sidewalks, because that is where the homeless people live, and sell the stuff they stole from Walgreens, or wherever.)

So when you reduce the number of lanes by 25 percent, congestion increases. Then they wanted to add congestion pricing to force cars to stay out of the city, because congestion is bad, or something. Makes perfect sense, to Democrats.

Well Trump just through a monkey wrench into the Congestion Pricing by revoking the federal governments OK to charge it on highways.

Here is a look at the state of the subways, though I think the title is a bit overstated. Trump Just Took Over NYC's Subway... Permanently. The video is from Cash Jordan, and its 17 minutes long.

Riding public transit is like picking up random hitchhikers. At least in NYC, that seems to be the level of safety. (I wish I knew where I first read that comparison.)

The Revolving Door of New York Justice

They keep releasing the (alleged) bad guys, and are surprised that when there are no consequences, behavior doesn't change. Is it any wonder that the city is crumbling under the scourge of crime?

This is Cash Jordan's video Gang Robs Entire NYC Subway Train… Then Walks Free

So here we have a gang of teenagers who didn't even bother wearing masks when robbing people while armed, but what nobody in charge of subway safety wants to admit is that these guys, they don't have to wear masks because we don't have any laws that can actually stop them. Which is why it's no surprise that assaults and robberies are spiraling out of control down here, because in many cases these crimes are no longer crimes at all, and have been decriminalized.

The video is 17 minutes long.

"Criminals Are Taking Over the NYC Subway"

What happens when you make something cheaper? You get more of it. And in New York City, there is no cost to committing crime.

Mayor Adams wants to make sure that people "feel safe." I would think it would be a better idea to actually make them safe. But I'm not stupid enough to live in NYC.

This is Cash Jordan's video The NYC Subway is So Dangerous… Nobody Can Use It

The NYPD [is seen] arresting a man accused of at least two stabbings on the subway last week. We're now learning the suspect has been arrested - drum roll please - 87 times. So if you're wondering why New York City has a Subway crime problem that just won't go away, this is your reason; our Progressive Justice System allows people to commit the same offenses over and over again. Yet they never get sent to jail.

NYC Transit Chief Says Crime Is in Your Head

Nothing to see here. Move along. If Janno Lieber thinks gaslighting New Yorkers will fix the subways, it's in his own head

A dismissive MTA boss Janno Lieber said, “Some of these high-profile incidents, you know, terrible attacks have gotten in people’s heads and made the whole system feel unsafe.” ...

Last year, there were 11 murders on the subway, according to Manhattan Institute – the most of the 21st Century. By the grace of God, it wasn’t 12 after an innocent man was pushed in front of a train by 23-year-old Kamel Hawkins on New Years Eve.

All the PR stunts of Governor Hochul riding the subway, with her armed security, to "prove" how wonderful it is, won't change reality.

But I'm writing about Democrats; they never worry about reality.

Denial won’t fix the trains.

The thing is, they don't want to fix the trains, or anything else.

And in a bit of delicious irony... Congestion pricing advocate attacked at NYC subway station — as new $9 toll pushes people into mass transit

Layla Law-Gisiko, president of the City Club of New York, which sued Gov. Kathy Hochul to implement the unpopular toll for motorists driving into Manhattan, said she was left bruised and battered after the Saturday afternoon attack at the 23rd Street station.

She wanted everyone to ride transit. Maybe they should have worked on crime first.

NYC Public Transit - Still Not Safe

I guess the 1000 members of the NY National Guard "patrolling" the subways haven't made the city safe. Woman, 71, heading to New Year's Day church service fights back when teen girls attack, try to rob her in NYC subway station

This story highlights the fact that attitude counts for a lot.

This attack, by 4 teens, against Linda Rosa, a 71-year-old woman, went on for a while. She screamed, "I need assistance," but none came.

“The first person kept fighting,” Rosa said. “She punched me in my face and I have my glasses on, and I have a cut on my nose. When she punched me in my face, my glasses flew to the floor.”

“Meanwhile the other young lady was still trying to distract me to get my pocketbook or go into my purse, to snatch something out of my purse,” she recalled.

The teen ended up grabbing a pocket pouch that held Rosa’s ID and medical records, she said.

The detail that matters is that she fought back.

“I got an impression in me that she was going to stomp me again, but she was going to aim towards my head,” she said. “So I got up right away, and with that, I grabbed her braids and twirled them around my right hand, and then I pulled her down. She had her head down. Then the other young lady said, ‘Let her go.’ And I said, ‘Oh, no, I’m not letting her go.’”

The senior yelled out for someone to help her – when she noticed that the second teen had tossed her pocket pouch to the ground and was coming toward her again.

“So out of nowhere, I grabbed her hair and twisted it around my left hand,” Rosa said. “So I had them both facedown….[like] rams when they’re getting ready to fight.”

In the end, they punched Linda Rosa in the face, and cut her nose. They got away with nothing, but ended up on subway surveillance video. Click thru if you want to see these choir girls.

The Governor of New York, was just recently telling everyone how safe the subway is, and when you travel with armed security, it probably is safe. They also increased the number of national guard members in the subway. That didn't seem to have any effect either.

Now crime can happen to anyone, anywhere, but in large parts of the country the Criminal Justice System is trying to put the bad guys behind bars. In the Blue Cities, the Criminal Justice System seems to be dedicated to increasing crime. New York seems to go out of its way to make it easier on criminals.

Linda Rosa had only the security she could provide herself. She called for help, none came. Now things could have been very different if these teens were armed, but it is a story with a mostly happy ending.

Ms. Rosa is a Christian and has forgiven the girls, and thinks they are just teens acting like teens. Personally I think it is more indicative of the downfall of civilization. See this link on Hobbes' Leviathan for a bit about what the world is like, when law and order break down. (Were you attacking random people when you were a teenager? I didn't think so.)

Graham Combat Killhouse Rules

1. NOBODY IS COMING TO SAVE YOU. Whether an event lasts a few seconds, a few hours, or even a few days – you have to work as though nobody is coming to save you.


2. You are your savior, so start working because EVERYTHING IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. You are your security, you are your medic, you are your rescuer.


3. You are your own best resource to SAVE WHO NEEDS TO BE SAVED. Nobody wants to save your life more than you, so set yourself up for success by having the simple tools and knowledge to do so: do what you can with what you have. Recognize that nobody is in a better position to start saving your life than you.


4. Sometimes saving lives means you have to KILL WHO NEEDS TO BE KILLED. It has been almost 15 years since I first wrote “the more effective you are at taking a life, the more successful you’ll be at saving one” and nothing in the intervening time has changed my mind. Be swift, be decisive, be final.


5. Mostly, ALWAYS BE WORKING. There is always something you can be doing to improve your position. Always. Because nobody is coming to save you.

Gov Hochul Happy That Video Helped Catch a Murderer

Miguel Gonzalez brings us a bit of insanity from NY Governor Hochul. Taking a victory lap around a burning body.

Personally I would be happier if they could do something to reduce crime, not just catch people after the fact, and while this guy will probably be held - he did kill someone - most of the people NYPD arrest are turned back out onto the street as fast as the paperwork is done.

This is in relation to the death on the subway recently.

I am not going to post the horrifying video of the poor woman on fire while a cop went back and forth, and the suspect just sat there watching his deed. And the video incidentally was not from the “brand-new security cameras” touted by the Governorness but phone footage of witnesses.

New York doesn't want people to defend themselves, or others. New York wants people to be defenseless victims. Couple that with their refusal to keep criminals off the street and this is what you get. Lawlessness.

New York City has a long history of denying people the ability to resolve themselves any attack they may suffer in the subway. From the prosecution of Bernard Goetz to harassing Curtis Sliwa and his Guardian Angels when they took it upon themselves to escort the citizens of Gotham against the predators running the underground and streets.

And of course the recent trial of Daniel Penny.

But New Yorkers keep electing people with the same ideals. People who despise self-defense, individual action, and a society where people look out for one another. This is what they get. Why does anyone want to live in New York?

Elderly Woman Attacked While Gov Hochul Says All Is Well

But then what else is Hochul going to say? Elderly Woman Attacked Inside Manhattan Subway Station As Governor Declares "Safe Subways"

At approximately 2:35 p.m., the victim was standing on the southbound “6” train platform when an unidentified male approached her and punched her in the head, police said. The impact caused the woman to fall to the ground.

The assailant fled the station on foot in an unknown direction. Emergency Medical Services transported the victim to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, where she is reported to be in stable condition.

This happened with Governor Kathy Hochul's PR stunt of riding on the subway, with her armed security detachment, to "prove" how safe the city is.

Despite these efforts, Hochul’s claims have faced scrutiny, particularly in light of high-profile crime incidents. For example, her statement on Sunday about the subway’s improved safety was met with criticism following a horrific incident where a woman was set on fire on a subway train the same day.

PR stunts are not going to change reality. (Hat tip to The Quartering.)

Take Public Transit, They Said

New York has serious problems and no one trying to solve them. Woman fatally set on fire on Brooklyn subway; suspect in custody: NYPD | FOX 2 Detroit

Around 7:30 a.m., the woman and the suspect were both riding the "F" train to the end of the line at the Stillwell Avenue Subway station in Coney Island.

Police said the victim was seated when a 33-year-old man, a migrant from Guatamala, who police haven’t identified approached the woman and set her on fire with his lighter.

NYC is about to start taxing people who don't want to die on the subway drive into certain areas of the city.

I'm actually shocked that they identified the suspect/"person of interest" as an immigrant.

Why would anyone want to live in NYC?

Is NYC Public Transit Safe?

Riding Public Transit is like picking up hitchhikers. From the NY Post: Exclusive | Murders soar 60% on NYC subways, nearing record

Murders across the city’s subway system have surged 60% so far this year — a troubling trend as overall crime on the rails has dipped.

Now the numbers are low - 8 people were killed as of September 8th, but it is the very definintion of a "controlled environment." You would think NYPD would be able to police that part of the city.

From 1997 to 2020, there were never more than five murders in the subway in a single year, according to the earliest public NYPD data.

I won't say that all of NYC is circling the drain, but ...