A viral TikTok posted by a woman shows how unsafe people, especially women and Asian people, feel riding New York’s public transit as of late.
TikToker @gold.a.star posted the TikTok on May 26, and as of Friday, it has over 417,200 views. The clip captured an incident on the Long Island Rail Road, you can see authorities and riders standing around the train.
“So there was a man wielding a hammer on the LIRR today,” her text overlay alleges, “He yelled at young women and physically taunted them.”
@gold.a.star Transit and subways need to be more safe #nyc #uvalde ♬ Sad Emotional Piano (main version) – DSproductions
The overlay text continued: “Transit isn’t safe. NYC isn’t safe. After Uvalde we’re all afraid.”
She later specified in the comments that this train was “the Babylon/Far Rockaway line to Penn station.”
In the comments, Golda wrote that this event happened two days after the devastating mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas that left 19 children and two teachers dead.
“No one wanted to move because we were scared. The conductor was freaking out,” Golda shared.
In the comments, other people chimed in with how public transit has been making them feel “terrified.”
“I live in nyc and take the train daily and it’s scary but I always make sure I carry my pepper spray and other stuff it’s sad that it has to be like,” commented one TikToker.
“I was harassed by a homeless man Who followed me into the train and started verbally attacking me. Luckily I was able to escape but it’s scary in NY,” wrote another.
“I’m from nyc too the subway has been so scary lately,” commented a third.
Their fear is backed by numbers too. Experts say crime, ranging from assault to harassment, on New York transit increased by 14% from 2020 to 2021.
Over just the past year, there’s been a big increase in anti-Asian hate crimes on New York’s subway. According to data by the New York Police Department, 2021 saw an increase of these anti-Asian attacks from 2020 by a whopping 361%. People have been spit on and slashed, even killed. In January, a woman named Michelle Go was fatally shoved in front of a subway car by a man.
The Daily Dot has reached out to @gold.a.star via TikTok comment.
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