Volunteer crime prevention group Guardian Angels will resume patrolling New York's subways following the death of a woman who was burned alive a week ago.
“We're now back to where we were when we started the group on the subway in 1979. We've come full circle. We've never seen it this bad. Never,” said founder Curtis Sliwa. Ta. new york post Sunday.
Sliwa founded Guardian Angels “out of necessity” following the rise in violent crime. Forty-five years later, he asserted that “the need is here again,” and that his group “is going to step up.”
“We cover the actual train from front to back, walking around inside the train and making sure everything is okay,” he said. “We do this all the time. We're going to focus completely on that starting today because the subways are out of control.”
Mr. Sliwa claimed that hundreds of people requested his group's services. (FOX 5 NYC/Spencer Pratt/Getty Images)
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The group was encouraged after an illegal immigrant was arrested for allegedly setting a woman on fire in a subway car and ultimately burning her to death. Since then, Sliwa claimed he has received requests from “hundreds” of people to provide his services.
“We're going to have to increase our numbers, increase our training and increase our presence, just like we did in 1979,” Sliwa said.
Sliwa said 150 troops will begin patrolling the Coney Island Stillwell Avenue station where the woman was killed. They will provide health screenings and water to homeless and other mentally unstable passengers while reporting problems to the NYPD.
In the meantime, he emphasized his hope that his group will inspire New Yorkers to be more than bystanders.
The Guardian Angels were formed in 1979 in response to an increase in violent crime in New York City. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“A lot of trains come and go here,” Sliwa said. “This is a perfect place because it reminds people that a week ago no one did anything. No one intervened. No one pointed at the cops and said, 'This is him.' The police didn't do anything either. ”
“This was an example of people just not engaging,” he says. “And we're here to say, 'You're seeing something, you're saying something.' Something has to be done.”
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The announcement comes less than two weeks after New York Governor Cathy Hochul announced that 750 National Guard troops and 250 Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) police officers would be deployed to patrol the New York City subways ahead of the holidays. It was done at my house.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that she would send hundreds of National Guard troops to patrol New York City's subways ahead of the holiday season. (Getty Images)
“It's clear to me, as I've heard from many people, that the presence of the National Guard has not only made a physical change, but a psychological change in how they feel about safety,” Hochul said. “People feel more at ease when they see someone in uniform, even in our National Guard.”
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