NEW YORK CITY — Hours after Governor Kathy Hochul touted efforts to improve safety on New York City’s subway system, a tragic and horrifying attack on an F train left a woman dead in Brooklyn, casting a shadow over the governor’s claims.
Police say an unidentified female victim was set on fire while sleeping aboard a stationary F train at the Stillwell Avenue Subway station early Sunday morning. The alleged attacker, described as a man between 25 and 30 years old, fled the scene after committing what NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban called “one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit.”
The victim was pronounced dead at the scene by EMS, and investigators later arrested a Guatemalan migrant in connection with the attack. Details about the suspect’s motives or mental state have not been disclosed.
The crime occurred just hours before Governor Hochul pointed to her administration’s efforts, including deploying National Guard members and increasing surveillance on subway cars, as a key reason for a reported decline in subway crime. “In March, I took action to make our subways safer for the millions of people who take the trains each day,” Hochul wrote in a statement on social media earlier in the day.
“In March, I took action to make our subways safer for the millions of people who take the trains each day,” Hochul said. “The safety effort and adding cameras to all subway cars, crime is going down, and ridership is going up.”
The juxtaposition between Hochul’s remarks and the violent attack has intensified public scrutiny of subway safety, even as ridership has shown signs of recovery.
After the illegal migrant was arrested, Hochul doubled down on subway safety.
“Make no mistake: any crime is one too many, even with subway crime going down. We are continuing to surge personnel and resources to make our subways safer,” she said.