Janno Lieber, head of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), suggested as much recent high-profile subway attacks have ‘crawled into people’s heads’ to make them feel that the subway system is unsafe.
Lieber spoke to Bloomber News’ podcast “Bloomberg Talks” Monday to discuss a new “congestion pricing” plan that will cost drivers $9 to drive under Central Park or enter Lower Manhattan from Brooklyn and New Jersey.
The plan is intended to encourage New Yorkers use public transport. However, according to Lieber, confidence in public transport has been shaken after attacks on the subway system.
MTA Chairman Janno Lieber defended a new congestion pricing plan that will encourage New Yorkers to use public transportation. (Getty)
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Nevertheless, Lieber argued that crime has dropped, suggesting that the recent viral incidents are giving people the impression of feeling unsafe.
“The overall statistics are positive,” Lieber said. “Last year we actually had 12.5% less crime than in 2019, the last year before COVID. But there’s no doubt that some of these high-profile incidents, you know, terrible attacks, have gotten into people’s minds and made the whole system feel less safe.”
Lieber acknowledged that the justice system “must do its job” by ensuring that people who “have lengthy criminal records are put away.”
Several high-profile crimes have occurred on New York City’s subway systems. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Still, he insisted: “These people are very few, but they impact people’s sense of safety. And we have to deal with them in a way that protects the riders and the public.”
The congestion pricing plan came into effect shortly after a high-profile case involving an illegal immigrant, reportedly set a woman on fire on the New York subway system last month.
More recently, a man was charged with attempted murder after allegedly pushing him a man on the subway tracks of New York.
It also follows the high-profile profile trial of former Marine Daniel Pennywho was charged but found not guilty by a jury for his actions in defending subway passengers in 2023 against a mentally unstable homeless man named Jordan Neely, who later died.
HOCHUL’S CHRISTMAS TIME ON SAFER METRO ARRIVED AMID SERIES OF ALARMING VIOLENT ATTACKS
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has touted safety measures taken to protect New Yorkers on the subway. (AP)
In response to the wave of violent crimes, New York’s Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul has deployed 1,000 National Guard members to patrol the subway system and ordered the MTA to install security cameras in subways.
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