Fearful and frustrated New Yorkers have voiced their concerns about their daily commutes as shocking instances of violence have recently rocked the city’s subways.
Many NYC residents dependent on public transportation feel helpless and unconsidered by city and state officials who claim to be striving toward more secure subways.
According to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), more than 3.6million people ride the subway each day.
In just 2024 alone, the city’s transit system recorded 10 murders – double the number from the previous year.
From 1997 to 2019, the subway system never recorded more than five murders in a single year, according to NYPD data.
New York straphangers have been left outraged by the congestion pricing fees implemented at the start of 2025, which critics believe have left commuters cornered into taking unsafe public transportation.
Within the first few days of congestion pricing being enforced, NYC subway ridership increased by nearly 13 percent from January 2024, ABC7 reported.
Frequent commuters told the DailyMail.com that subway violence combined with increased traffic tolls has made is difficult to decide the safest and most tangible ways to get around the Big Apple.
With limited choices, people revealed they have been forced to survive the chaos of the subways – doing their best to remain alert and take precautions. Here’s what they said.
More than 3.6 million people ride NYC subways every day, according to the MTA
Author and life coach ‘The Spiritual Whistleblower’ Chanel Clark has lived in NYC for more than 20 years and has never felt this unsafe
Chanel Clark: ‘I have never been more afraid’
Author and life coach Chanel Clark has lived in Manhattan for more than 20 years. She said that subway cars and platforms over the last couple of years have felt drastically more dangerous than before.
‘I take the subway almost every day and it is terrifying. I have never been this afraid,’ Clark told the DailyMail.com.
Clark sold her car last year after it became too expensive to keep. Now, she feels virtually optionless when it comes to getting around.
She has no hope that the situation will improve, and called out local politicians and the MTA for whitewashing how perilous the subways have become.
‘[The MTA is] absolutely downplaying it, but they keep raising our fares. Where is our money going? Where is the protection for the riders?’ she said.
In a TikTok that received more than 730,000 views and 68,000 likes, Clark described a terrifying subway encounter she had last month.
‘There was a man shouting the entire ride,’ she recalled from the station.
Clark said the mayor does not care about the city’s homeless population, forcing them to stay on the subway in winter months
‘Out loud, making racist comments and s**t like that. And if y’all don’t know, this s**t is real on the subway cars.’
She told DailyMail.com the police and military need to take more action and protect the subways.
‘Eric Adams is terrible. I hope he gets locked up by the Feds. He does not care about the city. He cares about fame and notoriety,’ Clark asserted.
‘He’s not doing the work. He’s not doing anything to help. He doesn’t care about the mentally ill or the homeless.
‘We’re just tired. We’re exhausted as New Yorkers. I know I am. It’s it’s very triggering to ride on a subway car, and you’re just sitting there paranoid because you don’t know if someone’s gonna go off.’
Brynn Nelson, 21, said recent violent incidents have made her more alert during her commute
Brynn Nelson: ‘You do see some crazy stuff on there’
Other commuters acknowledged that these subway attacks may be few and far between, but that does not make them any less concerning.
Brynn Nelson, 21, said she has to take a bus and a train from Queens to her internship in Brooklyn and she has to change train car at least twice every few weeks because of witnessing something that makes her uncomfortable.
The Queens resident noted that situations of violence are still technically rare but are alarming to watch.
She told the DailyMail.com: ‘I would say the big thing about like, with everything that’s going on. I feel like you have to kind of remind yourself that it is rare, although it doesn’t seem rare.
‘But, like that being said, you do like see some crazy stuff on there.’
Her commuting options between boroughs are limited, so she said she has been riding without her headphones in to stay keen to her surroundings.
Jenn Han, 24, said she opts for the bus or Uber when possible to avoid the subway
Jenn Han: ‘I avoid trains that are empty’
Midtown Manhattanite Jenn Han, 24, said she has found herself opting for more expensive options instead of taking the subway – especially at night.
Han shared with the DailyMail.com: ‘I feel more safe on NYC’s subways during the daytime and on trains where there are a good amount of people.
‘I avoid trains that are empty. I have always been cautious about safety but the recent violence has been a wake up call to stay vigilant.
‘If it is after 10 pm on a Sunday or weekday, I choose other modes of transport such as the bus or an Uber.’
Fiona Knox: ‘I try to stay alert’
Fiona Knox, a Brooklyn woman in her thirties, said that she has been taking the same subway since she was 16 years old.
She told the DailyMail.com: ‘I don’t particularly enjoy taking the subway but it’s just a part of my everyday life as a New Yorker.
‘Most people I know who work in the city take some form of public transportation to and from. I try to stay alert and I don’t stand near the edge of the platform.
‘But, I live near an NYC Ferry terminal now, and I try to take that when the timing works out.’
People gathered the mourn the woman that was set on fire on the F line
Social media subway scares
Subway riders have taken to social media to share their gut-wrenching transit experiences.
Chris Olsen, who has 13 million TikTok followers, posted a video about the life-threatening ordeal that unfolded as he and his friend, Caroline Haroldson, rode the train through the city.
‘We just basically witnessed a stabbing and almost died on the subway ourselves,’ Olsen began, his voice trembling as he relived the traumatic experience.
Unfazed by the loud exchange of shouts between two passengers, Olsen initially brushed it off as another typical subway squabble.
However, Haroldson, visiting from out of town, quickly realized the situation was far more sinister when she spotted one of the passengers brandishing a knife.
‘Most people have their headphones in, so they aren’t really listening to what’s going on, but Cara and I are listening to the whole thing,’ Olsen said.
‘I was still making jokes, not realizing how serious it was until one of them charged at the other.’
Go. Kathy Hochul recently proposed changing the legal criteria for involuntary commitment to try and keep subways safe and address people’s mental health needs
New York’s response
Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch spoke extensively about public safety during a press conference last month.
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MTA boss who said subway crime is 'in people's heads' denies claim he never uses public transport
Tisch said: ‘I want to be very clear, subways will allows be a bellwether for the perception of public safety in New York City. Declining crime numbers are significant.
‘But we still must do more because people don’t feel safe on our subways. Effective this week, I’ve directed that we move more than 200 officers onto the trains to do specialty train patrol.’
She added that more officers will be added onto the platforms of the ‘highest crime stations’ in the city.
Adams chimed in: ‘Perception always overrides reality and when you looked at some of the horrific incidents in these last few days, the average New Yorker would believe they are living in a city that is out of control.
‘That is not the reality. And we know that we are doing a good job in fighting crime.
‘But we must deal with the perception that many New Yorkers feel.’
MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber addressed public safety and congestion pricing on Bloomberg Surveillance in January.
Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch spoke extensively about public safety during a press conference last week
MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber boasted that subway crime was down 12.5 percent in 2024 from 2019
Lieber tried to ease concerns, citing ‘positive’ overall stats for 2024 and acknowledging that people are understandably scared.
‘Last year, we were actually 12 and a half percent less crime than 2019, the last year before COVID.
‘But there’s no question that some of these high-profile incidents, you know, terrible attacks, have gotten in people’s heads and made the whole system feel less safe.
‘And there’s a little bit of disorder that’s crept into the public space since COVID. There’s no question about it.’
He called for the criminal justice system to ‘do its job’ in order to make the public feel safe on their trips around the city.
Tisch announced on Tuesday that subway crime in January was down 36.4 percent compared to January 2024.
In general, major crimes across the five boroughs decreased by 16.8 percent in the same timeframe.
‘January’s crime declines are an extraordinary testament to the work of our cops,’ Tisch said.
‘Every day, we are analyzing crime numbers and optimizing our deployments to put cops in zones that need them. That’s starting to deliver real results. And New Yorkers can expect more of that data-driven policing to come.’
Debrina Kawam, a 57-year-old homeless woman from New Jersey, was set on fire and burned to death while she slept on a subway car
Previous incidents
A 23-year-old woman was shoved onto subway tracks in front of an oncoming A train by a homeless man on January 27.
Markeese Brazelis, 26, who had already been charged with sexual abuse and trespassing in recent months, allegedly pushed her shortly after 9 am at the 175th Street station.
She was struck by the train as it pulled into the station, but miraculously survived – falling back onto the platform.
On New Year’s Eve, 2024, music programmer Joseph Lynskey, 45, was shoved into the path of an oncoming train at the 18th Street 1 Train station by a masked assailant who fled the scene.
Despite suffering from serious wounds including a cracked skull, four broken ribs and a ruptured spleen, Lynskey is expected to make a full recovery.
His accused attacker, Kamel Hawkins, 23, was eventually caught and arraigned on attempted murder and second-degree assault charges.
Before that, two people were injured in Manhattan’s Grand Central Station after a maniac went on a stabbing rampage on Christmas Eve.
Just days prior, the Big Apple was stunned when a homeless woman was set on fire and burned to death while she slept on a subway car.
The victim was identified by the NYPD as Debrina Kawam, a 57-year-old homeless woman from New Jersey.
She was allegedly set on fire by illegal immigrant Sebastian Zepeta, who police said used a lighter before fanning the flames with his shirt.