New York City’s subway system has reached a disturbing 25-year high in homicides, following the barbaric burning of a woman on a subway train this weekend.
The city’s transit system recorded its 10th homicide of 2024 — double last year — when an illegal migrant allegedly set fire to a sleeping woman on a Brooklyn train on Sunday.
According to NYPD data, the subway system never recorded more than five murders in a single year between 1997 and 2019.
The wave of violence marks a sharp increase from pre-pandemic security levels.
Now Democratic leaders are facing mounting criticism over their handling of both the crime and migrant crises.
The shocking statistic comes after Sunday’s horrific incident when Guatemalan migrant Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, 33, allegedly used a lighter to set fire to the clothing of a sleeping passenger.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch called the alleged murder “one of the most depraved crimes anyone could ever commit.”
It was just one of a few violent acts during a bloody weekend on the New York City subway.
New York City’s subway system has reached a disturbing 25-year high in homicides, following the barbaric burning of a woman on a subway this weekend
Kathy Hochul took a beating from Republicans and Democrats for posting photos bragging about the safety of the New York City subway system hours after a woman was burned alive
Also on Sunday, a 76-year-old woman was viciously attacked on a Manhattan platform, while a 27-year-old man was beaten in an unprovoked attack.
A day earlier, two young men were shot by a pair of young suspects in a Brooklyn subway station, and on Friday an 83-year-old man was beaten after accidentally tripping over his attacker’s leg.
Five migrant men also tried to rob a 69-year-old passenger, leading to a fight that left one dead and another injured, sources told the newspaper. New York Post.
The elderly passenger, who reportedly acted in self-defense, was taken into custody but will not be charged.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul took a beating from Republicans and Democrats for posting photos bragging about the safety of the New York City subway system hours after the woman was burned alive on a train.
At 3:40 PM on Sunday, hours after the story broke, Hochul bizarrely posted photos of herself smiling with straphangers as she praised the safety of the subway lines.
“In March, I took action to make our subways safer for the millions of people who take the trains every day,” she said.
Hochul was referring to her efforts earlier this year to send National Guard members to help police randomly search passengers’ bags for weapons after a series of high-profile crimes on city trains.
Sebastin Zapeta, 33, a Guatemalan migrant, was taken into custody for hours after he allegedly set the woman on fire and fled the scene
The incident happened Sunday morning at a Coney Island station, where an F train carrying the victim was stationary
Sebastian Zapeta, 33, leaves the NYPD 60th Precinct after being arrested and charged in the death of a woman aboard a subway train while she was sleeping and allegedly set on fire
The governor recently deployed additional members to help patrol during the holiday season.
“Since deploying the @NationalGuardNY to support @NYPDnews and @MTA safety efforts and adding cameras to all subways, crime is down and ridership is up,” she added, without mentioning the woman who was set on fire.
Councilman Joe Borelli, the Republican leader of New York’s far-left City Council, shared the post with the comment: “Aged as milk.”
Hochul was also criticized by her own party, with Congressman Ritchie Torres — who had mounted a primary challenge to the governor in 2026 — blasting her for the post.
“Two hours ago, Kathy Hochul took a victory lap for making the subway ‘safer.’ She congratulates herself on the fact that on the same day in Queens, two subway passengers were stabbed (one in the face and one in the chest) and another was barbarically burned alive.”
Torres asked, “Has there ever been a more tone-deaf governor in the history of New York?”
Hochul appeared to make her own U-turn on the subway later in the day as she praised the NYPD for arresting the suspect.
“Make no mistake: one crime is one too many, even if crime in the metro is declining. We continue to dedicate staff and resources to making our subways safer.”
At 3:40 PM on Sunday, hours after the story broke, New York Governor Hochul bizarrely posted photos of herself smiling with straphangers as she praised the safety of the subway lines.
Councilman Joe Borelli, the Republican leader of New York’s far-left City Council, posted the tweet with the comment: “Aged as milk.”
Hochul was also criticized by her own party, with Congressman Ritchie Torres – who had mounted a primary challenge to the governor in 2026 – blasting her for the post
As Torres noted, the case was the second fatality on the New York subway on Sunday.
At 12:35 a.m., police responded to an emergency call of an assault in progress at the 61st Street-Woodside Station in Queens and found a 37-year-old man with a stab wound to his torso and a 26-year-old man. with multiple stripes all over its body.
The older man was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, while the younger man was in stable condition, police said.
The number of homicides in the metro this year matches the highest number in 2022 in 25 years.