As New York officials work to respond to crime problems within the city’s subway system, a handful of leaders have focused their efforts on a specific incident in which a Hispanic passenger was smeared with human excrement at a station while waiting for a train in the Bronx.
A lawmaker representing Harlem is taking up a pen and paper and drafting legislation that would make similar attacks involving human waste a felony.
State Assemblywoman Inez Dickens announced her intention to push through a bill to amend the criminal law for first-degree aggravated stalking to include the “intentional and nonconsensual transfer” of bodily fluids to another person.
“None of us should have to put up with someone throwing feces or bodily fluids at them for no reason other than they picked on it and decided they were going to throw bodily fluids at them,” Dickens said.
In addition to the vile Bronx subway incident, Dickens cited the attack of a transgender person in Harlem in December of last year. The assembly member said the victim was harassed while waiting for a train and had a cup of urine thrown at him after exiting the carriage.
MTA President Janno Lieber toured the Bronx subway station where the woman was attacked and thanked transit workers who rushed to help the victim.
“What that woman went through, no one should go through,” Lieber said Friday. “I spoke with her today and she is incredibly grateful for what the MTA team did when she went through that ordeal.”
“Overall, the MTA is safe, if you look at the numbers, but there have been some high-profile incidents that have shaken rider confidence,” he added.
Some of those numbers, according to the New York City Police, are on the rise. The department saw 55 major traffic crimes last week, up 30% from the previous week and up more than 200% from the same week last year.
The city says that so far in week one of its new subway safety plan, more than 18,000 station inspections have been conducted. More than 450 people have been removed from the trains, while 22 have been relocated to shelters.
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