A 34-year-old straphanger was shot on the subway in downtown Manhattan early Saturday, less than a day after Mayor Adams and Gov. Hochul announced that the underground crime rate was down following a new safety plan launched in the fall.
The man, whose name was not released, was shot in the stomach and forearm during a dispute with another man and his female companion on a southbound N train as it pulled into the Canal Street and Broadway station just after 1 a.m., police said.
The victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition, according to police.
The suspect, believed to be a man in his 30s, left the station with the woman in an unknown direction, cops said.
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The suspect was wearing a mask with skull and bones on it that may have sparked a “What are you looking at?” argument that escalated into bloodshed, police sources said.
The suspect pulled the gun out of his pocket and fired two shots, the sources said, adding that when cops arrived, there was a second man lying on the ground but not moving. However, it turned out the individual hit his head while running off the train.
During a joint appearance at the Fulton Transit Center in Lower Manhattan Friday, officials unveiled NYPD figures that showed subway crimes occurred at a rate of 1.7 incidents per 1 million riders during the first three weeks of this year, down from 2.3 incidents per million in 2021 and 2022.
Transit crime was down 28% through Jan. 22 compared with the same period last year, NYPD data show. The anti-crime plan included flooding the system with officers and the installation of additional surveillance cameras.
Additional reporting by Georgia Worrell
