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NEW YORK (77WABC) — City leaders say New York City’s surging crime rate may slow its attempt to come back economically from the COVID-19 pandemic — underscoring the importance of subway safety.
Partnership for New York City President Kathy Wylde told 77WABC owner John Catsimatidis on The Cats Roundtable that helping commuters feel safe is vital to bringing white-collar workers back to work.
“People are absolutely outraged that we’ve allowed our city to deteriorate to the point that we have,” said Wylde. “It’s not just gun violence. We’re talking about just a general deterioration in the feeling that we are safe walking the streets, riding the subways, safe from disease and safe from harassment, from assault and and worse.”
MTA Chairman Janno Lieber who was also on the show — agreed with the sentiment.
“I am not a criminal justice expert, and I’m not here to lobby for any particular law. All I can do is speak for the riders, which is that they want to see the rule about paying fares enforced,” Lieber said. “The vast majority of people who pay the fare have to feel like it’s a fair system, and they’re not suckers because they pay. They got to see that the rules are being enforced, and I’m counting on the city and the NYPD to do just that.”
Wylde then took aim at the state’s lawmakers and recent criminal justice reforms that have let many repeat offenders walk free — including Frank Abrowka, the man charged with smearing his own feces on a straphanger’s face last month.
“We seem to have made some mistakes, both in legislation and an implementation on some of these policies,” Wylde said — specifically calling on the state Legislature to change laws that prosecutors claim make it prohibitively difficult to try cases.
