NYPD continues search for suspect in Bronx subway-push incident
NEW YORK -- Police are searching for a man who pushed a commuter onto the tracks of an oncoming 6 train in the Bronx.
As statistics show transit crime is on the rise, straphangers say they'd like to see more safety precautions in the subways, CBS2's Hannah Kliger reported Sunday.
The surveillance video shows a man lurking behind a 26-year-old commuter as he waited for the train on Saturday morning at the East 149th Street station. He then pushes the victim off the platform as the train rolls in.
"It's something we have to deal with every day. You never know what to expect living in the city," Bronx resident Chris Morales said.
Police say witnesses pulled the man back up just in time with only minor injuries, but the suspect ran away.
FLASHBACK: Union head says recent subway push incidents are 'traumatizing' for conductors
On Sunday night, commuters, disturbed but not surprised, said they feel like crime in the subways has gotten out of control.
"I worry about the safety, yes. It's a hard environment," one man said.
"One time, I was sitting on the bench and somebody approached me to attack me. We don't see too many cops around," Ismael Figueroa added.
Many people on the East 149th Street station platform said they'd like to see more police in the subways, but some are taking safety measures into their own hands by being extra vigilant by the platform edge.
Some said they are even waiting behind the turnstiles until trains approach.
"I check what time the train comes and then I go. They should have more cops in the stations," Manhattan commuter Maria Berrios said.
This comes after a 15-year-old boy was killed in a shooting on the subway in Queens on Friday, the eighth homicide in the transit system so far this year, compared to just six all of last year. Overall, statistics show that transit crime citywide is up more than 41 percent from the same period in 2021.
"I work in Brooklyn and just to avoid trains. I buy a bike. Just, I can't stand the trains anymore," Manhattan commuter Herminio Reyes said.
Earlier this year, the MTA announced plans to install subway platform doors in three pilot locations, but the project is still in the planning stages.
"Compared to what it is now, I think that's going to be better off," said Louis Ezeni of Brooklyn.
Groups like Meet the Edge, a design firm in Brooklyn, released renderings of a similar plan they hope to work with the MTA to phase in across the city in the coming years.
"We're New York City. We are supposed to be cutting edge and the rest of the world follows, and we've really lost, behind a lot of traction in terms of infrastructure," founder and CEO Grant Plotkin said.
The MTA the safety doors at the three locations are expected to be in place in 2024. They are expected to cost more than $100 million and are going to be located at the Times Square 7 platform, the Third Avenue L platform, and the Sutphin Boulevard-Archer Avenue E train.
Anyone with any information about the Bronx subway push incident 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.
