Off the rails: Over half of NYC straphangers feel unsafe, unsatisfied on subways
Fewer than half of New York City subway riders feel safe or satisfied, according to an MTA survey.
This spring, just 45% of straphangers said they felt safe aboard trains, according to the results of the MTA's Customers Count spring 2024 survey.
That's down from the 54% who felt safe inside subway cars in the fall of 2023.
Additionally, just 44% said they felt safe inside train stations this spring, a drop from 51% in fall 2023, according to the bi-annual poll conducted April 18 through May 12.
Only 47% of straphangers said they were satisfied with the transit system — down from 52% in the fall 2023, and the lowest percentage since the spring 2022 survey, when it was 48%, the stats show.
Simmone Leslie wasn't surprised by the decline, telling the Post she "avoids riding the subway by any means necessary" due to safety concerns.
Leslie, 35, recalled a particularly harrowing moment during a ride to a Liberty game this summer, when the train she was riding stopped en route to Atlantic-Barclays subway station in Brooklyn – and a disturbed man started screaming at straphangers and banging on the car's doors.
"It was nerve-racking," Leslie said. "I don't know if [someone] has got a weapon on them, if they'll randomly attack someone."
Leslie added that she now relies mostly on ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft to get around, and always carries a taser whenever she takes the subway.
In one of the latest random transit attacks, a rock-wielding menace bashed a straphanger on the head inside a Chelsea subway station on Wednesday afternoon.
On Tuesday night, a 54-year-old man was fatally stabbed during a dispute on a Coney Island subway platform.
So far this year, nine people were murdered systemwide — up 80% from the five recorded at this point last year, according to NYPD's latest transit crime data through Oct. 27, which did not take into account the Tuesday murder.
There were five rapes in the system so far this year, compared to four at this point in 2023.
The number of shootings doubled so far this year, with six compared to three at this point in 2023, and there were 11 victims of gunfire in transit hubs – up 175% from four at this point last year.
Sex crimes also increased over 3% this year, with 550 incidents compared with 532 at this point last year, the transit crime data show.
Last month, a fiend with a rap sheet that includes 51 past arrests was busted for attempted rape inside the Columbia University station.
The latest data available shows major felonies in the transit system were down 6% between January and Oct. 27.
"If someone gets on that does not look right to me, I wait until the next stop and I get off and switch cars to feel more safe. It's almost every time," said straphanger Shirley Joseph, 65, as she waited to board a Manhattan-bound 2 train at the Church Avenue station in Flatbush.
She also lamented the general "untidiness" underground.
Her concerns were echoed by half of the 40,000 spring survey respondents, who said they were dissatisfied with the level of cleanliness.
In the fall of 2023, 57% said that the subways were sanitary.
Of the 50% of riders who said trains weren't clean enough this year, 77% blamed homeless individuals, 74% cited unpleasant smells, and 65% pointed to trash.
One in five blamed rodents, bugs — and even birds — for the grimy conditions.
Bronx residents were the unhappiest underground, with an overall 40% satisfaction score.
Staten Islanders were most satisfied with the train system.
The subway lines with the lowest approval scores this year were the D and J/Z lines, both with 48%.
MTA Chief John J. McCarthy said that the latest numbers show that crime inside the system is down, while subway service and ridership is up.
"[We are] hitting record totals this month with the most subway riders in almost 5 years showing increasing satisfaction with their OMNY cards," McCarthy wrote in a statement.
Additional reporting by Matthew Sedacca
