This week, amid the mayor’s plan to remove people experiencing homelessness and who have mental health issues from the subway system, we asked readers if they felt safe riding the subway.

 

“I take the subway. Sometimes, I feel safe, depending on the time of day. I think they’re making efforts; I’ve been watching the news recently. I think they’ve made long-term efforts, but as of today, I think the police are relaxed when it comes to looking at potential perpetrators [of crime]. I think they can strengthen their efforts and can use more soft training skills in interacting with the general public.”

Ahmad “Ghost” Rode,

Norwood

 

“I have friends who’ve taken the subway and have had bad experiences. They’ve had crazy people approach them, ranting and raving, and not knowing whether they’re going to be attacked; it’s terrible. I feel so bad for them, and I hope they don’t get stabbed, because every day there’s a stabbing. They keep saying they’ve added more officers, but I asked my friends, and they say they don’t see any new officers on the trains. I think there’s a lot of people who won’t take the subway; it’s bad. How did it get like this? There’s a lot of homeless people and a lot of people who are mentally disturbed. They now say they have teams of social workers and people who work with mentally disturbed people. It was never like this. They have to do something, we have to have confidence in the new mayor. He says he’s serious about it.”

Arthur Buggeln,

Norwood

 

“I take the 4 train and I am concerned for my safety, because a lot of things have been happening lately. Of course, the mayor came up when we had the shooting over there. He did. I saw him; that was good. But they need to control the guns that are coming into New York. That’s basically it. They need to have a police presence right there on East 198th and Valentine, because we’ve had plenty of incidents right there. I see police in the stations and police on the trains occasionally. They could do better. Like, years ago, they always had a cop on the train. You need more cops on the trains and more cops on the streets because we used to have cops here at night, and there wasn’t that much crime. I hate to say it, but they only put cops out when something happens. It’s sad for me to have to say that.”

Carlos Vazquez,

Bedford Park

 

“I ride the subway quite a bit and yes, you do become fearful when you see the news that they’re robbing people and stabbing people for no reason. Of course, I’m concerned for my family’s safety, because they take the train every day to go to work. My little kids take the train to go to school, so you must be concerned, of course. I think the police are doing what they can, because there’s officers at every station, basically. Yes, I’ve seen them.”

Angel Rijo,

Bedford Park

 

“I feel safe, depending on the stop I’m at. Yes, I have seen more police lately. I think they are doing everything they can, within reason. If I could think of something else that could reduce the crime, I wouldn’t know what it is. But I am hopeful that things will get better, and crime will go down.”

Leonardo Wallace,

Pelham Parkway