MTA to test platform barriers at three NYC subway stations
NEW YORK - The spike in crime and deadly incidents in the New York City subway system, like the death of Michelle Go last month when she was pushed onto the train tracks at the Times Square subway station by a mentally Ill homeless man, has the MTA putting in place new safety measures.
The MTA is looking to install platform barriers between the platform and the tracks to prevent people from falling or being pushed onto the tracks. The technology has existed for a long time and is already used on the JFK Air Train.
The pilot program will be rolled out at three stations: the Times Square 7 line, the Third Avenue L line, and the Sutphin Boulevard JFK Airport E line.
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The MTA says the engineering at those stations is already in place to make the program work.
This comes as the city is working to crack down on crime in the subway system and as Mayor Eric Adams' subway safety plan is being rolled out.
Teams of social workers and clinicians are being paired up with police officers to go into subway stations to reach out to the homeless and offer them alternatives. They are focusing on six lines, the A, E 1, 2, 3, N, R, and 7 lines.
The MTA's CEO and Chair, Janno Lieber, told FOX 5's Good Day New York that the NYPD has been enforcing the MTA's rules of conduct and says already they've been seeing results.
While New York City’s push to make subways safer is now in full swing, it seems that crime plaguing the transit system hasn’t taken a break.
On Wednesday, a man in his 20ss was struck with a metal pipe following a dispute on a northbound J train at the Lower East Side’s Delancey Street Station, all in the middle of evening rush hour.
The victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital and is expected to recover.
Authorities say the suspect, who was last seen wearing a blue sweatshirt, took off.
A video released by NYPD Crimestoppers shows four robbery suspects running through the turnstiles at the Times Square Station.
The four men allegedly approached a 23-year-old, punched him, and then stole his iPhone right out of his pants pocket.