Turnstile jumping linked to rising subway crime, experts say

NEW YORK - The city is still reeling from Michelle Alyssa Go’s death, sending shock waves across all five boroughs and bringing elevated attention to the state of crime across the transit system.

At least fifty-six New Yorkers have been pushed onto subway tracks over the past two years.

Subway crimes have more than doubled, so far, this year, compared with the same time last year.

According to MTA board member Andrew Albert, another major issue is turnstile jumping.

"99.99% of people that are committing crimes in the subways did not pay their fare. If we can stop that at the turnstiles, we've not only helped the MTA bottom line, but we've stopped crime in its tracks," he explains.

At the same exact Times Square station where Go, 40, was killed, Fox 5’s cameras recorded countless cases of people jumping and crawling their way through the turnstiles.

NYPD Crime Stoppers videos also demonstrate how subway crime suspects typically enter the system.

"We need floor to ceiling glass, like the air train and like some systems in Europe have, where you cannot enter if you haven't paid your fare," Albert adds.

This comes as New Yorkers learn more about the victims of Saturday’s heinous crime.

Go, an MBA graduate of NYU’s prestigious Stern School of Business, spent more than a decade of her life volunteering to help the homeless, only to have it tragically cut short by a mentally ill homeless man who police say shoved her onto the tracks.

Go’s family wrote in a statement: We hope Michelle will be remembered for how she lived and not just how she died. She was a beautiful, brilliant, kind and intelligent woman who loved her family and friends, loved to travel the world and to help others. Her life was taken too soon in a senseless act of violence, and we pray that she gets the justice she deserves."