NYC Mayor Eric Adams has been blasted for saying there's only a 'perception' of danger on the city's subway, the day after a passenger was pushed to her death in a seemingly random attack.
Speaking at a press conference in the wake of Saturday's murder, Adams said: 'New Yorkers are safe on the subway system I think it's about 1.7 percent of the crimes in New York City that occur on the subway system.
'Think about that for a moment,' he added. 'What we must do is remove the perception of fear.
'Cases like this aggravate the perception of fear,' he said referring to the death of subway rider Michelle Go, 40 — who was unexpectedly killed when suspect Simon Martial, 61, allegedly pushed her in front of an oncoming MTA train on Saturday morning at the station on West 42nd St and Broadway.
Go is believed to have been a senior manager at Deloitte Consulting.
'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.
Former Republican mayor candidate and Adam's arch-nemesis, Curtis Sliwa, was the first among many users on Twitter to criticize the relatively new mayor's comments, sharing on Sunday:
'The WHO has a song that says 'the new boss is the same as the old boss.' Adams is saying what DeBlasio said for 8 yrs - #mta crime is a perception & not real. He won't confront Bragg & covers up subway crime. What happened to the law & order candidate?'
He was referring to Adams' status as a former NYPD cop - and repeated promises to stamp-out spiraling crime in the Big Apple.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams insisted on Sunday that subways are still safe and there is only ‘perception of fear’ among commuters as an estimated 1.7 percent of the crimes in the city occur on the MTA system.
Former Republican candidate for the mayor's seat in the Big Apple, Curtis Sliwa, criticized Adams' comments on Sunday, writing online: 'What happened to the law & order candidate?'
Twitter users online lashed out at Adams for downplaying the amount of crimes on the Big Apple's subway, with the majority saying the 'perception' that the mayor chose to describe the violence as is very much a 'reality'
Others also joined in Sliwa's condemnation of Adams, saying the feeling of danger on the Big Apple's subway is not a 'perception' as the mayor claims, but a 'reality' for many daily commuters.
'It is a reality, not perception that way too many of your constituents are facing @NYCMayor,' the Victims Rights NYC PAC wrote. 'They did not elect you to further gaslight them. They hired you based on your promises of public safety & they will fire you do not deliver.'
Senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, and NY Post columnist, Nicole Gelinas was also vocal of Adams' choice of words, sharing on Twitter: 'Where Adams either quickly recovers or irrevocably falls apart early. We don’t have a perception problem of subway violence. We have a reality problem. 16 random unprovoked stranger subway murders since 3/20 (including 2 this new year) are enough.'
Another NY post staffer, Kristen Flemming, took a dig at the newly-elected mayor, saying that 'Michelle Go’s family might have something to say about this “perception”.
Alleged killer Martial was charged with second-degree murder after the Saturday morning incident at around 9:40 a.m. Go, of Asian descent, was a NYC resident in the city's Upper West Side of Manhattan. It remains unclear if the killing was racially-motivated.
Simon Martial, 61, was arrested after he allegedly shoved Michelle Alyssa Go, 40, right, onto the subway tracks and killed her
Martial has a history of mental illness and told reporters to 'go f*** yourself' as he was walked out of a Midtown precinct on Saturday night, declaring himself 'God.'
'Yeah because I'm God,' he said when asked if he killed Go, the New York Post reported. 'Yes I did. I'm God, I can do it.'
He then claimed: 'She stole my f***ing jacket, that's why.'
NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said the attack was 'unprovoked' and the victim 'does not appear to have any interaction with the subject.'
Prior to her death, Go worked as a senior manager of strategy and operations for management and acquisitions at Deloitte Consulting, according to her LinkedIn.
She graduated from University of California Los Angeles with a bachelor's in economics and public policy, and earned her Master of Business Administration from New York University.
Martial reportedly shoved Go onto the tracks as a southbound R train approached the station in a seemingly random attack. He purportedly had approached a different woman, who was not Asian, but she moved away, police said.
Martial has a lengthy criminal history, including serving two years in state prison for attempted robbery before being released in August 2021, the New York Post reported, citing state records.
Simon Martial, 61, is charged with second-degree murder after the Saturday morning incident. He was seen Saturday night leaving a Midtown precinct
Before becoming New York City's new mayor, Adams first rose to public prominence as a young police officer and co-founder of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, an advocacy group that called for criminal reform and an end to racial profiling and police brutality.
He ran his 2021 mayoral campaign on increasing the relatively expansive role for the New York Police Department in promoting public safety in the city, particularly when it comes to fighting rising gun violence, crimes done in the public eye and racially-motivated attacks on Asian-American and Jewish residents.
He has also supported increasing the number of officers of color, 'anti-crime units' and 'stop and frisk' techniques.
Overall, crime rose 6.13 percent in New York City over 2020 through December 31. The biggest rise came in felony assaults, which rose 9.6 percent from 2020, but murders (4.1 percent), shooting victims (0.6 percent), rapes (3.3 percent), and robberies (4.7 percent) have also risen last year.
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