A woman was burned alive, a man was shoved in front of an oncoming train, and a gang of illegal immigrants were strapped in, days after New York Governor Cathy Hochul declared New York City's subways were safer. He stole the hanger.
Just before Christmas, Democrats claimed to X that they had taken steps since March to make the subways “safer for the millions of people who ride the trains every day.”
“Since its introduction, [New York National Guard] support [the NYPD] “Thanks to the MTA, our safety efforts and the installation of cameras in every subway car, crime is down and ridership is up,” she wrote on Dec. 22.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) primarily serves the five boroughs, Long Island, and the Lower Hudson Valley suburbs, but it is a state-run, not city-run, agency.
But in that short time, illegal immigrants set a woman on fire on an F train, a man miraculously survived being pushed in front of one train, and Venezuelan gang members snatched straphangers at will. are.
In Coney Island, Guatemalan national Sebastian Zapeta was charged with murder for allegedly setting a Toms River, N.J., woman on fire while she slept on the F train at the Stillwell Avenue terminal. The incident occurred on the morning of December 22, several hours before Hochul's post.
The victim, Debrina Khawam, worked at Merck Pharmaceuticals in the early 2000s and most recently lived in a homeless shelter in New York City.
Mr. Zapeta's arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday. He told NYPD he had consumed too much alcohol and “didn't know what happened,” according to NBC News.
Kings County Democratic District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said of the case, “My office is extremely confident in the evidence in this case and in our ability to hold Mr. Zapeta accountable for his despicable conduct.” Ta.
Earlier this week, 23-year-old Brooklyn resident Kamel Hawkins allegedly pushed a strap into the path of a South Ferry-bound No. 1 train at Chelsea's W. 18th Street station.
Hawkins initially ran away, but was quickly captured near Columbus Circle and Central Park, according to reports. The injured victim's survival was hailed as a miracle after he was rushed to hospital with head injuries after being run over by a train and falling into a “gutter” between the tracks.
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Hawkins had previously been arrested for assaulting a police officer in Queens. “I think someone put something in his marijuana,” his father, Shamel Hawkins, told the New York Post.
Chamel Hawkins said Kamel has been “acting weird” lately and “needs help,” but he continues to refuse to get help.
On New Year's Day, WPIX reported that two unprovoked subway stabbings occurred during daylight hours on the West Side. A 30-year-old man was reportedly stabbed in the head and lower back as he waited for a train at 110 Broadway. The station is located in one of Manhattan's safer areas, near Columbia University, St. John's Cathedral, and the diner made famous by the sitcom “Seinfeld.”
The same day, another man was stabbed at 14th Street and 7th Avenue while he was waiting for the 2nd train, the newspaper reported.
Meanwhile, authorities discovered 22 members of the Torren de Aragua immigrant gang during a raid on a home in Crotona Park, Bronx, last month. Federal law enforcement had tracked the ankle monitor of Jarwin Valero Calderon, a Venezuelan national who was initially arrested in Nassau County and ordered deported, to the building.
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Hochul said this in an X video on his account.this week new york,” says her “Five-Point Plan to Improve Subway Safety” has reduced overall subway crime by 10% since March 2023.
Hochul also said he would send an additional 250 National Guard troops to join Joint Task Force Empire Shield.
In its December report on November crime statistics, the NYPD said subway crime fell 15% in the month, from 240 to 202, and 6% year-to-date, from 2,137 to 2,002. .
The New York City Police Department announced that its annual subway safety rate is the highest in more than a decade.
“We're all in this together. As we enter the final month of 2024, the downward trend in violence and disorder across New York City is very encouraging, but we must continue to improve the public safety that New Yorkers deserve.” We still have a lot of work to do to provide the best possible service,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch said in a Dec. 3 statement.
But these days, New Yorkers feel the MTA is less safe overall.
“Kathy Hochul needs to resign,” said commentator Chaya Lajcik (aka “LibsOfTikTok”), chronicling some of the recent subway incidents, including some of the recent underground robberies in Torren de Aragua. wrote to X after claiming to have been raped by a gang member.
“Of course she won't resign. They only care about their power and perks,” FOX Business host David Assmann wrote in a reply. “Only New Yorkers can get rid of her.”
“Daniel Penny for the governor,” another X user commented, referring to the man who was acquitted in the death of a deranged straphanger who was terrorizing passengers earlier this year.
MTA Chairman Jano Lieber pledged During the March Transportation Committee meeting “We're never going back” to the mid-20th century, when subways were incredibly dangerous. “This is a New Yorker's nightmare,'' said Carlton McPherson, who a neighbor described to this newspaper as “a little different.'' He recently shoved a man to death on Harlem's 125th Street in front of the Woodlawn-bound No. 4 train. After finding out, he spoke. .
MTA Chairman Jano Lieber and New York State Governor Kathy Hochul. (Getty)
Mayor Eric Adams also referenced national sentiment in his address earlier this year.
“Security is about actual safety and how people feel,” he said in March. “We have over 4 million passengers per day and we know we have a reliable system. Out of 4 million passengers, there are about six felons per day. But if they don't feel safe, we haven't accomplished our mission.”
“Statistics don't matter if people don't believe they're in a safe environment,” he said, according to WNBC.
“We're not going to surrender our city to anyone,” Lieber said at the March meeting.
