Man found fatally stabbed in 11th NYC subway death this year amid 41% rise in transit crimes
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: An unidentified man was found dead in a New York City subway station on Thursday morning, December 8, with fatal stabbing wounds to the torso. According to the New York Police Department, at around 12.12 am, the officials responded to a call of an unconscious man at the West Fourth Street and Sixth Avenue station in Greenwich Village. The deceased was located on a stairwell ramp area of the subway station, ‘unconscious and unresponsive’, said NYPD. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and an incident of homicide has been registered.
The medical team is working to determine was caused his death, as the investigation continues, as per NYPD. "We can't get away from the fact we have three and a half million people using our subway system," NYC Mayor Eric Adams said in October, reported WNYW. "Those average of six crimes a day is not giving the impression that our system is out of control. We're dealing with the perception of fear that people are feeling."
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NY Governor Kathy Hochul, along with Adams, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell, and Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chair and CEO Janno Lieber in October announced new initiatives where 1,200 additional overtime officer shifts each day on subway platforms and trains will be added. "We have a crime-fighting strategy," Hochul said back then. "We've leaned into proven law enforcement strategies, investing in new technologies that will make a difference. And we're providing New Yorkers the support and the help they need. Here's what we're calling it: 'Cops, Cameras, Care.'”
On the state’s plans to expand crisis intervention training for transit and city police officers, including paramedics, Hochul said it is crucial to engage homeless people and establish a system for transporting those needing a psychiatric evaluation, “This training will incorporate the best practice for engaging the street and subway homeless population, helping officers better understand the problems they are facing and how to deal with them, so they can de-escalate and ensure people get the help they need.”
“New Yorkers must be able to ride the subway system with confidence that they are protected from crime, harassments, and threats and this is what we are zeroing in on,” Adams had said during the news conference. “The omnipresence of police officers and the removal of those who are dealing with mental health issues is crucial to our second phase of this important plan.”
This is the 11th killing in the New York subway system this year, as per Fox 11reports. According to CNN citation of NYPD statistics in October, 1,813 incidents had been registered, in comparison to 1,282 during the same period last year. This is a sharp rise of 41% in crime on the subway in general.