Just looked this back up for something I'm working on, and think it bears repeating.
The NYC subways are incredibly safe. What people see is not violence, but disorder.
That person (and they are a person) sleeping on the train poses very little risk, however unsettling ppl find them.
The NYC subways are incredibly safe. What people see is not violence, but disorder.
That person (and they are a person) sleeping on the train poses very little risk, however unsettling ppl find them.
Reposted from
John Pfaff
Hold up. Wait.
For airplanes--the "safest way to travel"--it takes ~6,000 years to be in a fatal accident if you flew once a day.
If you took the MTA once a day, it will currently take you almost 150 THOUSAND YEARS to be murdered (3 murders YTD out of 175M-200M rides).
MTA is SAFER THAN PLANES.
For airplanes--the "safest way to travel"--it takes ~6,000 years to be in a fatal accident if you flew once a day.
If you took the MTA once a day, it will currently take you almost 150 THOUSAND YEARS to be murdered (3 murders YTD out of 175M-200M rides).
MTA is SAFER THAN PLANES.
Comments
Isn’t death is a fringe measure when assessing safety?
https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/articles/how-rare-is-crime-on-the-subway
Analyses that try to lead towards “as safe as air travel” or that, as in this article, look only at felony crimes aren’t doing a service. People that ride daily at off hours and marginal neighborhoods could be served better.
Also I ride almost daily & live in a working class, majority immigrant neighborhood. I feel much more endangered by drivers running red lights walking to/from the train than by crime on trains.
Kids selling candy without a permit (migrant, probably).
Adults selling candy without a permit (migrant, probably).
People asking for change.
Not exactly dystopia.
train skipping my stop without any kind of announcement.
delays delays delays
but isn't that what NYers are supposed to appreciate? The whole facet of humanity in its manay varieties while on ones way to work.
https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/articles/how-rare-is-crime-on-the-subway
A friend & her 13yo daughter were shown another one over the summer
My postdoc was attacked by a big dude- he was saved by middle aged women
Guy rage-face screamed at me bc I didn't give up my seat
NYPD doesn't help. We need DHS and a social worker brigade
It might be busy and chaotic and loud and annoying and you may even occasionally encounter folks who are a bit weird or creepy or scary, but it is absolutely SAFE and dependable.
Frankly, it feels safer than walking.
That person sleeping on the train is unlikely to do violence to you on the train; but their intentions are less legible than those of the person late to work holding their briefcase. The public correctly perceives this uncertainty.
It costs a community $30,000/person/year to leave people on the streets
It costs $7,000/person/year to house them in a program designed to end their homeless experience
Are legislators perpetuating poverty to keep people scared, therefore compliant?
Those numbers don’t compute to me.
https://chuffed.org/project/116638
"As you are, so once was I.
As I am, so you will be."
That is why they terrify us so. Most of us are one paycheck from the streets, and we know it.
Let the academics put that fact in their analysis!
People are scared and perhaps complicit. And subconsciously, they know that if they don’t play by the rules of society, they might be sitting on the cold sidewalk themselves
And.... Thanks, Reagan!
Capitalism is about individualizing solutions to problems rather than facing them collectively.
I think homelessness reinforces these beliefs
Person: If you take the LA Metro you'll get stabbed! It's full of crime!
Me *takes the LA Metro*
The crime? Somebody smoking a joint sitting right under the no smoking sign.
(Which was *brazen* but...)
But the couple of times I've had to use it, it's been clean and reliable.
And there are places in NYC the mass transit doesn’t reach.
LA certainly isn't bad. You can get places. But it ain't the Tube.
- NYC subway is "relatively" safe.
- Crimes-per-ride remain higher than pre-pandemic:
https://bsky.app/profile/torrleonard.bsky.social/post/3kudqekwi4c2c
None of those things are my concern on a plane. And no I don’t think a sleeping man on a train is gonna assault me🙄
You’re comparing apples and oranges here.
But I also think a lot of ppl are upset by the disorder writ large, and aren't always separating out real risk from mere discomfort.
There is a guy on my corner who screams at people though.
I think that the issue is that so many people take the subway, so very low probability events do of course happen. Which is awful, but people also don't understand statistics!
Of course, people may self-protect (move to another car, wait for the next train, etc..), so some would-be assaults are just "fear" bc ppl took valid (and fear-inducing) actions.
If something feels sloppy and dirty it gets perceived as unsafe.
Clean up a space and folks gain confidence, even if that confidence is utterly false and all you did was sweep the floor.
Although I don't remember if cops in subways was a mayor's office thing or a police overtime scam thing.
I don't pay attention to NY nitty gritty to that degree.
There are problems but not what outsiders think.
We get on, we go, we get off. That's how it's supposed to work and that's how it works.