Mayor Adams to reinstate bag checks in NYC subway after string of assaults
NEW YORK - As part of the response to a series of violent incidents on New York City's subways, Mayor Eric Adams announced plans Tuesday to resume random bag searches among commuters.
Adams also said he wants more police officers on the city's trains and platforms.
"We know people feel unsafe," Adams said at a press conference Tuesday. "I'm on the subway system and I speak with riders. They say, ‘Eric, nothing makes us feel safer than seeing that officer at the token booth, walking through the system, walking through the trains,’ and that is what we want our officers to do."
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The proposed initiative has garnered mixed reactions from subway riders. Some welcome the measure as a step toward safer travel, while others have expressed concerns about potential racial profiling and the infringement of personal privacy.
Adams made the announcement in the wake of several violent incidents on the New York City subway in the last few days.
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On Tuesday evening, Upper East Side resident David Beaglehole says he was attacked by another rider at the subway station on 2nd Avenue and East 86th Street.
Earlier this week, on Sunday, 64-year-old Abu Khan was waiting for the E train on the subway platform at Penn Station when he says a man approached him, tried to talk to him, and then shoved him onto the tracks.