Forcible touching, lewdness, and uninvited staring or surveillance are the most common sex offenses committed on the subway, New York police Deputy Chief Vincent Coogan told the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which runs the city`s subway system.
“I think everyone has a subway horror story,’’ subway rider Ashley Ezparda, a Queens resident, told the Post. “[I saw] some homeless guy masturbating on the R train this past summer. I wanted to throw up.”
On December 4, a persistent sex offender was arrested at the Columbus Circle subway station after he groped a five women on a subway platform, according to the Manhattan District Attorney. His arrest was aided by a subway rider`s cellphone photo that was shown to police a week prior, the Post reported.
In mid-July, the New York Police Department reported a 7.5-percent increase in sex crimes compared to the previous year, again citing "forcible touching, public lewdness and unlawful surveillance" as the top crimes. In the first six months of 2015, no one had reported a rape on the subway system, according to WLNY.
Felony crime on the New York City subway is up 9.2 percent from last year, NYPD officials said Monday. Between January and November 2015, there were 2,241 felonies committed in subway stations or cars, up from 2,053 felonies in the same period of 2014.
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