NYC Mayor Eric Adams says he fears riding subway following murder of Asian woman

Speaking to a roomful of reporters on Tuesday, Adams confessed that he had concerns about riding the subway, making his comments just three days after the death of Michelle Go, an Asian American woman who was pushed into the path of a train and killed by a homeless man.

Adams has spoken about public safety for the last few months and New Yorkers’ perceptions about the safety of the subway. However, his admission on Tuesday was the first time he ever publicly stated that he shared the fears of other New Yorkers.

“Day One, January 1, when I took the train, I saw the homelessness, the yelling, the screaming early in the morning, crimes right outside the platform,” said Adams, according to a New York Daily News report.

“We know we have a job to do — and we’re going to do both. We’re going to drive down crime, and we’re going to make sure New Yorkers feel safe in our subway system. And they don’t feel that way now. I don’t feel that way when I take the train every day, or when I’m moving throughout our transportation system.”

Adams vowed to bring “swagger’ back to New York during his inauguration. “When the mayor has swagger, the city has swagger,” he stated at the time. “We’ve allowed people to beat us down so much that all we did was wallow in COVID.”

On Sunday, Adams also re-iterated that the subway is safe. “New Yorkers are safe on the subway system. I think it’s about 1.7 percent of the crimes in New York City that occur on the subway system.”

“Think about that for a moment; what we must do is remove the perception of fear.” He continued, “When you see homeless individuals with mental health issues not being attended to and given the proper services, that adds to the perception of fear.”