Mayor Eric Adams, a former New York City police captain, took office this year with a central focus on making the city feel safe and trying to return it to some sense of normalcy post-pandemic.
But the first 3 1/2 months of his administration have been beset by a string of high-profile violent incidents, with Tuesday’s shooting on a subway train the most terrifying and public of all.
The morning rush-hour attack, in which 10 people were shot on a system that serves as the arteries of New York, complicates Adams’ push to address crime and persuade people that the city of nearly 9 million is safe. It also occurred amid a broader, multi-year debate about policing and crime, and how the city should respond.
In New York City, like many places around the country, violent crime rates have climbed since the pandemic, though they remain far below rates seen three decades ago during the city’s notoriously grittier era, or even just a decade ago.
