Admin
Subway crime continues to be headed the improper manner, and it might worsen if the MTA and NYPD don’t implement the official Code of Conduct.
As Monday’s Post reported, felonies within the subways are up 40% this yr by means of October over the identical interval final yr. And, no, that’s not simply because riders are returning: Violent crime (together with three murders) was up 45% final month over October 2019.
Yes, it’s nice that Gov. Kathy Hochul has the state funding NYPD additional time to place extra cops within the transit system — however that’s a stopgap measure, since OT is inherently restricted.
Plus, the subway crime wave is a part of general hovering metropolis crime, which NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell warned again on Monday is spurred by the state’s botched criminal-justice reforms.
Then once more, an earlier “reform” additionally plagues the subways: then-District Attorney Cy Vance’s 2018 choice to cease prosecuting most farebeating circumstances, a coverage later adopted by different DAs. As we warned then and since, this opened the door to far better lawlessness underground: Once you break the principles to enter the system, you’re prone to break larger guidelines inside it.
Happily, the new MTA Code of Conduct — totally endorsed by Mayor Eric Adams — consists of unbiased fines for farebeating in addition to for lingering over an hour in stations and different trademark vagrant conduct. New Yorkers want cops on transit obligation implementing these guidelines relentlessly, or the subways are all too prone to flip much more harmful.
