NYC subway crime up 65% as Mayor Adams backtracks on dismissal of public concerns as 'perception of fear'

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New York City subway crime is up more than 65% in the first two weeks of 2022, according to police department statistics, as newly minted Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday backtracked statements he made about how the subway system was "safe" and public concerns were caused by a "perception of fear." 

Big Apple transit crimes increased 65.5% year to date as of Sunday, with 96 crimes reported in the subways compared to the 58 reported at the same time in 2021, according to New York Police Department (NYPD) data released Tuesday. Transit crimes were also up for the most recently available week-to-date and 28-day periods. 

The new statistics were released just days after Adams insisted to reporters on Sunday that the city had "a safe subway system," according to video of the statements captured by the New York Post. 

"Transit police officers, they have done their job," he went on. "What we must do is remove the perception of fear. Cases like this aggravates the perception of fear … What our battle is in the subway system is fighting the perception of fear that cases like this can happen."

Speaking to Fox News Digital on Tuesday, former NYPD Commissioner Howard Safir said he was "hopeful" that crime would turn around under Adams but said there had to be "real assertive policing."

"The fact is, crime is up in the subways," Safir said. "You know, perception often is reality, and if you happen to be one of the victims it’s certainly reality."

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Press conference at the 20th Precinct with Mayor Rudy Giuliani, police commissioner Howard Safir and parks commissioner Henry Stern on June 5, 1996.  (Clarence Davis/NY Daily News via Getty Images)

Safir, who was commissioner from 1996 to 2000, also pointed to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s decision not to prosecute subway turnstile jumping, which he said "sends a message to the criminal that you can commit crimes with impunity." 

Adams made the controversial comments just one day after 40-year-old Michelle Alyssa Go was killed when a homeless man named Simon Martial pushed her in front of an oncoming train inside the bustling Times Square subway station. 

During a press conference on Tuesday, Adams backtracked on his earlier statement, Adams said that as a former transit police officer, he knows "the safety and how safety matters in our transportation system."

"It was extremely impactful for New Yorkers," he said. "Losing a New Yorker in that fashion, and just really doubled down on our concerns that our system must be safe, must be safe from actual crime, which we are going to do. And it must be safe from those who feel as though there's a total level of disorder in our subway system."

Speaking on Saturday about Go's death, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said the incident was "unprovoked" and noted that Go did not "appear to have had any interaction with the subject."

Six police officers were working inside the station on Saturday, including two officers who were at the other end of the platform when Go was killed, NYPD Chief of Transit Kathleen O’Reilly told reporters. 

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"This one is very harrowing and disturbing, and it was unpreventable by our officers," she went on. 

Martial had approached a different woman before setting his sights on Go, police officials said. The woman reported the run-in with police after the tragedy.

Sixty-one-year-old Simon Martial, who allegedly pushed a woman to her death on an NYC platform  (WNYW)

"He approaches her and he gets in her space. She gets very, very alarmed," Assistant Chief Jason Wilcox said. "She tries to move away from him and he gets close to her, and she feels that he was about to physically push her onto the train. As she’s walking away she witnesses the crime where he pushes our other victim in front of the train."

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Martial was ultimately charged with murder and is expected to be arraigned Tuesday. Police said he has an extensive rap sheet going back decades and has been on parole. 

Fox News' Rebecca Rosenberg contributed to this report.