2 slashings in NYC subway system come amid overall drop in subway crime
NEW YORK - There have been two violent incidents in the New York City subway system. Both took place in the Times Square-Port Authority subway station complex.
In one incident, a man was stabbed inside the Eighth Avenue and 42nd Street subway station. It happened on the E train platform around 11:36 p.m. Tuesday night. Police say a man, 31, was stabbed from behind. He was rushed to Bellevue Hospital and is in stable condition. Police are searching for four suspects, who they say got away on a southbound A train.
Anyone with any information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or via DM on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.
Separately, police have made an arrest in a slashing in the same underground complex a few hours later. In that incident, a man was attacked just after 3:30 a.m. on the 7 train platform. Police say the suspect, 25, slashed a 24-year-old man's arm. The victim was hospitalized and is expected to survive.
Charges against the suspect are pending.
Overall crime in the subway declining, officials say
Despite the two violent incidents, crime in the subway system has been declining recently, according to NYPD statistics.
Mayor Eric Adams touted the decline in subway crime Tuesday, saying that a few incidents create an inaccurate impression in the mind of the public.
"I know it's sort of hard to believe because, some of the most challenging aspects of our subway system get profiled a lot, but the reality is, if you were to look at the last 14 years, [2020] was the only time that [subway crime] was lower, and that's because no one was really on our subway system. It is clear that they did an immediate turnaround after the January slight bump," Adams said.
MTA chair and CEO Janno Lieber said more needs to be done against chronic offenders, while touting the overall decline in crime.
"Subway crime was down again last week, and it's also down substantially for the first half of this year. Down 7% in 2024 for the first six months compared to 2023, and it's down 11% – subway crime is down 11% compared to pre-COVID. That's right: 11% less than 2019. These are major, major steps forward," Lieber said. "I think that we could really knock those numbers down even further if we start to put the recidivists out of the system. The people who get five to 10, to 20, to 50 arrests every year, and there are a lot of them, that are committing a disproportionate amount of the crime. So, we are working with the DAs to make sure that those people get special attention when they're picked up – they don't just cycle through the system and back out – that they are dealt with in a differential way that recognizes that they are chronic offenders."