A group of New York City commuters were forced to stand behind the subway entryway Tuesday morning while waiting for a train as a screaming man paced on the platform - a scene that is increasingly typical as random subway violence becomes the norm.
Three women waiting for the downtown 6 at the 23rd Street station around 7am stayed behind the turnstiles before running onto their train at the last minute when it arrived.
Jennifer Smith, 29, who has lived in the area for two years and takes the downtown 6 train regularly to her media job from 23rd Street, said when she arrived, she noticed 'two to three other women standing behind the turnstiles.'
'There was also a six-foot man who’d gone through the turnstiles who was hovering near the exit door near us. It was a horrible atmosphere and there wasn’t a cop or MTA worker in sight,' she told DailyMail.com on Tuesday.
'When the train did arrive, we all raced through,' she said. 'He was still pacing, I’m not sure if he even got on the train. There’s always the worry that you’ll be followed onto the carriage and then you’re stuck there, potentially in a dangerous situation.'
Subway riders waiting nervously outside behind the turnstiles at the 23rd Street Station in Manhattan as a screaming man paced the platform
The man was behind the turnstiles (pictured), a rider told DailyMail.com, and three women riders had to rush through the terminals to get on the train when it arrived
When Smith first arrived, she didn't even notice the man lurking on the other side of the turnstile until he walked past with a 'deranged look in his eye.'
'That station has become a lot more dangerous in the last six months,' she told DailyMail.com. 'Before the pandemic, it was always fine and there were enough people around that you felt safe.
‘Now, every other day it’s just you and either a homeless person or someone with clear mental illness.’
What once might have been considered a 'right of passage' to encounter a crazy man on the subway, is now an every day occurrence for New York City subway riders as the weather grows colder and more homeless people take shelter on the trains and inside the stations.
Overall, crime has risen 30 per cent in the city, with transit crimes already up more than 100 per cent in 2022
What once was a man or a woman wandering through subway cars asking for spare change has turned more and more sinister; passengers are forced to stand against the wall on platforms to avoid being thrown on the tracks and are extra careful about their surroundings.
But newly minted mayor Eric Adams, 61, a former NYPD officer, said on Saturday that the subway systems are 'safe,' despite the ongoing increase in transit crimes, and said all New Yorkers have to do is erase the 'perception of fear.'
'New Yorkers are safe on the subway system,' Adams said at a press conference on Saturday. 'Think about that for a moment, what we must do is remove the perception of fear.
'When you see homeless individuals with mental health issues not being attended to and given the proper services, that adds to the perception of fear,' Adams said, who promised New Yorkers he would be 'tough' on crime.
From January through Dec. 12, 2021, straphangers were pushed onto the tracks 27 times, up from 25 during the
