Yellow Metal Structures Appearing in New York Subway... The Chilling Reason Behind Their Installation

Random crimes of pushing passengers onto tracks increase in New York subway
Installation of barriers to prevent crimes

In New York, USA, a series of crimes involving strangers pushing passengers onto subway tracks has led to the installation of safety barriers to prevent such incidents.

On the 22nd (local time), New York Fox 5 News reported, citing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), that safety barriers were installed on the platform of the 191st Street station located in Washington Heights, Manhattan. Unlike the screen doors found in subways in South Korea and some other countries, these steel barriers do not completely block off the entire platform. However, considering that there were previously no safety measures between the platform and the tracks in the New York subway system, it is believed that the steel barriers will help prevent crimes to some extent.

Barrier installed at a subway station in Manhattan, New York. [Image source=Social Networking Service (SNS) X]

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, attacks by mentally unstable homeless individuals have increased in New York. In January 2022, a homeless person pushed an Asian woman onto the tracks at a subway station near Times Square, resulting in her death. Last year, another incident occurred where a homeless person grabbed a woman in her 30s from behind at a Manhattan subway station and forcefully pushed her toward an oncoming train, leaving her in critical condition. As anxiety spread, New York residents at the time expressed complaints such as "I'm too scared to take the subway."

In fact, MTA data showed that various passenger accidents on subway tracks increased by 20% in 2021 compared to 2019. The MTA plans to conduct trial installations of barriers at a total of four subway stations, including the 191st Street station, and analyze their effectiveness. If proven effective in preventing crimes, the MTA intends to install barriers at all subway stations throughout New York City.