NYC subway riders want more security, police after Brooklyn shooting

NEW YORK — Riders returned to the nation’s busiest subway system Wednesday, some with jangled nerves, others undaunted, sooner or later after gunfire erupted on a prepare outdoors the Sundown Park Station in Brooklyn.  

Some riders at Sundown Park stated they had been grateful for an even bigger police presence a day after the taking pictures that injured dozens – and hoped it might proceed. 

Anna Santana, who lives in Sundown Park neighborhood and frequently commutes to Brooklyn Heights to work as a well being aide, purchased a ticket Wednesday afternoon. 

Santana stated she was grateful her son took the 8 a.m. prepare in Tuesday, narrowly lacking the gunman.

“If he had been late, who is aware of what would have occurred, “ she stated. “I hope the police will proceed to be right here.

Monica Garama, who involves Sundown Park from her house in Queens on daily basis to wash places of work, stated she missed the mayhem due to a foul shoulder. 

“I took a time off as a result of I used to be in a lot ache,” she stated. “I’m so blissful I did. We want extra safety round right here.” 

LIVE UPDATES:Man initially named ‘particular person of curiosity’ in Brooklyn subway taking pictures is now a suspect, mayor says

At Hudson Yards in Manhattan, near common vacationer locations the Vessel and Excessive Line, a gradual stream of riders exited the 7 prepare within the morning, some lamenting the dearth of a noticeable police presence at that station.  

Jasimna Mohmoud, who runs a vegetarian halal cart outdoors the 7 station at Hudson Yards and lives in New Jersey, was so apprehensive concerning the incident that she requested her sister, who lives in Brooklyn and helps her with the meals cart, to remain house Wednesday.

“It’s so scary,” she stated.

She stated the town ought to put money into sensible scanning machines for weapons.

‘NOTHING LIKE THIS HAPPENS HERE’:Subway assault shocks Sundown Park, a hub for working-class immigrants

“They test for tickets right here however not for knives and weapons,” she stated. “Don’t make it a nuisance by scanning for cash, however put money into machines like they’ve in Singapore.”

Others stated Tuesday’s taking pictures has not deterred them from taking public transit. Len Burton, who’s visiting New York Metropolis together with his spouse and two youngsters, stated he was not apprehensive about taking the trains.

“It was a one-off incident by a lunatic,” stated Burton, from Redding, Pennsylvania. “We knew concerning the incident yesterday, however we went all of over the town using the subway.”

About 3 million folks experience the subway every day in New York, about half of pre-pandemic ranges, in response to Metropolitan Transportation Authority knowledge.

Town’s sprawling subway system has seen elevated crime in latest months. Transit crime was 68% greater in 2022 in comparison with the identical interval in 2021, NYPD statistics present. 

Subways have been a specific focus for Mayor Eric Adams, who launched a security plan earlier this 12 months that centered on addressing untreated psychological well being wants of New Yorkers experiencing homelessness.

The plan, which was criticized by some homelessness and psychological well being advocates, additionally known as for an elevated police presence and a mandate to implement the system’s often-ignored code of conduct, akin to fining individuals who smoke, litter, evade fares and take up a number of seats.

In a Feb. 20 YouTube video, the person arrested in Tuesday’s incident, Frank R. James, stated the plan “is doomed for failure” and referred to himself as a “sufferer” of the mayor’s psychological well being program.

WHERE WILL THEY GO?:New York needs to cease folks from dwelling within the subways.

WHAT IS TERRORISM:Brooklyn subway taking pictures isn’t being investigated as terrorism ‘right now.’ Here is why.

The plan was introduced after six folks had been stabbed over three days in February, in response to the New York Metropolis Police Division. The violent weekend got here after Michelle Alyssa Go was pushed to her demise in January in entrance of a subway prepare by a suspect who was experiencing homelessness.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority additionally introduced final fall that it had put safety cameras in all 472 subway stations citywide, saying they might put criminals on an “specific monitor to justice.” However Tuesday’s taking pictures might have proven cracks within the metropolis’s security efforts.

MTA Chairman Janno Lieber stated Wednesday that there was an issue with a safety digital camera server on the thirty sixth Road subway station the place the prepare stopped, which means the digital camera wasn’t sending photos to the NYPD.

Adams instructed CNN the town would double the variety of transit police on patrol within the wake of Tuesday’s taking pictures. The New York Instances reported officers had been contained in the station a number of instances earlier than the incident however not when the taking pictures started.

Elsa Forero, 74, of Tacoma, Washington, stated she’s not scared and plans to take the trains for the remainder of her go to. However she wished there was extra of a police presence.

“It will simply make everybody really feel safer,” she stated.

GRAPHICS AND MAPS:How the Brooklyn subway taking pictures unfolded

Contributing:Christal Hayes and Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY