As more workers return to offices after the coronavirus pandemic, New York Democrats are pushing them into the Big Apple's subway system with policies such as new congestion tolls on cars and trucks entering downtown Manhattan. .
The new fare has been criticized as a tax on the middle class and businesses, aimed at encouraging people to use the subway, cutting emissions and raising money for the city's Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
If you're traveling south of Central Park or entering downtown Manhattan from Brooklyn or New Jersey, a driver will charge $9.
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Sebastian Zapeta was arrested on January 7, 2025 in Brooklyn, New York. Zapeta is charged with murder and arson for allegedly setting Debrina Khawam on fire as she slept on the New York City subway. (Rashid Umar Abbasi, Fox News Digital)
Scott Robaid, a Staten Island artist and frequent critic of New York's Democratic leaders, spoke this week at 61st Street and Broadway, the intersection where supporters celebrated when the new fees took effect earlier this week. They held a demonstration and protested against this move.
He said passersby approached him and expressed support for the new toll because it was good for the environment.
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“I just said, 'I'm sorry, son. I don't feel like I'm going to be on fire. I don't feel like I'm going to get stabbed in the back of the head,'” Robaid told Fox News Digital on Friday.
On December 22, 2024, police conducted an investigation at Brooklyn's Coney Island-Stilwell Avenue station after a woman was set on fire while riding a subway car in New York City. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Robaid was referring to a series of recent subway attacks.
In one case, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala is accused of setting a sleeping woman on fire, fanning the flames and watching her burn.
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Sebastian Zapeta was later arrested and told detectives that he routinely rides the subway drunk and doesn't remember what happened, according to court documents.
In a separate incident, New York City police arrested a man accused of stabbing two strangers in the back with a knife on the subway. Another man was arrested on suspicion of an unprovoked stabbing on a subway platform in Grand Central, a major hub for tourists and commuters, on Christmas Eve.
A man armed with a knife went on a stabbing rampage at New York City's Grand Central Station on Christmas Eve, injuring two people. (FOX5 New York)
“It's insane. You listen to people like Governor Hochul who say the subways are safe. …The people who run the MTA say it's all in our heads. ” Robaid said.
Mayor Eric Adams vowed this week to send more police officers to patrol the subway, and Hochul also sent in the National Guard last year.
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But while authorities claim crime is decreasing, violence and fear of violence continues to increase.
Felony assaults on transit will increase slightly in 2024, and homicides on subways will double from 5 in 2023 to 10 last year. According to the NYPD, overall subway crime decreased by 5.4%.
Kamel Hawkins, 23, has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly pushing a 45-year-old man onto the subway tracks as a train approached. (MTA)
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Earlier this week, MTA Chairman Jano Lieber told Bloomberg News that the idea of crime is “instilled in people's minds,” but maintained that trains are safe.
“The overall statistics are positive,” he told the outlet. “Last year we actually saw a 12.5% drop in crime compared to the pre-COVID-19 year before, 2019. But some of these high-profile incidents, egregious attacks, were There's no question that it's stuck in your head and has a negative impact on the entire system, making it less secure. ”
On December 5, 2024, Daniel Penny arrives at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City. (Adam Gray, Fox News Digital)
In addition to arson murders and indiscriminate slashings, the strapping is still dealing with shoving attacks, many of which result in fatalities where the victim falls in front of a moving train, resulting in manslaughter and criminal charges. The trial of Daniel Penny, who was arrested and charged with responsibility, is also underway. Manslaughter for intervening in a man's violent verbal death threat.
Penny was acquitted of the lesser charges, but after the jury deadlocked, prosecutors asked the court to dismiss the more serious charges.
“The Boston Tea Party sparked the greatest revolution in the history of civilization over the 2% tax,” Robaid said. “And this, what’s happening here is purely—”
FOX News' Sophia Compton contributed to this report.
