State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

In Emptier Subways, Violent Crime Is Rising

The New York Times: It began in the early days of the pandemic in March, when someone lit a fire inside a subway car that killed the train operator and injured 16 others. In the following months, nearly 500 subway car windows were smashed on the No. 7 line. In August, a man tackled and tried to sexually assault a young woman at a station on the Upper East Side. And in September, a train derailed after a man threw metal clamps that he had stolen onto the tracks.

When the pandemic hit New York and subway ridership plunged, misdemeanor and felony crimes dropped to record lows: Between January and the end of September, the number of reported crimes in the system fell roughly 40 percent compared with the same period last year.

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