New Years: a time when change is possible, where the clocks’ shift from 11:59 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. offers the chance to start anew and ditch last year’s problems. However, time and time again, the new year opens the same way its predecessor ended. 

The shift from 2024 to 2025 was no different. In the final hours of 2024, a 45-year-old man was left critically injured after he was shoved in the path of an oncoming subway. 

Early in the morning on New Year’s Day, two men waiting at different subway stations were stabbed just minutes apart from each other. 

But these two incidents aren’t alone in recent violent transgressions taking place beneath the bustling streets of New York City. 

A string of high profile, violent attacks have left New Yorkers wondering when these crimes will finally motivate real change in NYC’s public transit security system. For most riders, the subway costs $2.90 a ride, a price which is hard to beat — even when it comes with some risk. However, the horrifying incident in which a New Jersey woman was killed after she was set aflame while sleeping on the subway, occurring on the same day in which a man was fatally stabbed in Queens, has been more than enough to scare many riders away. Unfortunately, these incidents are not enough to prompt lawmakers to employ new protective measures.

Ahead of the holidays, Governor Kathy Hochul called for the installation of 15,000 subterranean cameras and the deployment of 250 New York National Guard Members, according to the official website of New York State. Still, considering the recent assaults, these measures, which offer minimal difference compared to previously employed security measures, have done little to protect subway users.

So, when will lawmakers stop mocking commuters with measly efforts to “secure” the subways?

Mayor Eric Adams believes that the appalling stories subway users are hearing overshadow the success the city has had in bringing down crime rates. Adams said to reporters from City Hall, “We are doing the job of bringing down the numbers, but as I say over and over and I said in 2022, New Yorkers must feel safe.”

It is true that crime rates in NYC have dropped, with 3,662 fewer crimes recorded in 2024 than in 2023, according to the New York Police Department. However, murders occurring on NYC subways doubled from 5 murders to 10 this year, and since 2019, felony assaults on the subway have risen by 60 percent, according to The Independent. As long as there continues to be a stream of news headlines detailing violent attacks within the subway system, NYC commuters will never feel safe when they step into a 60-by-10-foot metal box full of strangers. 

Since it’s clear that increased officer vigilance has not — and probably will never — have success in completely securing subways, a more useful approach could be to install a blue light phone system similar to those on college campuses. Present on 92 percent of college campuses, the system provides 24-hour direct communication to campus police in case of an emergency, according to the Communication Company, a security company that provides these lights. In situations of discomfort or direct threat, subway riders would be able to press the button to alert police, an ability which may in itself help deter crimes and give riders peace of mind. 

Lawmakers no longer have grounds to stand on when they point to irrelevant statistics and applaud an illegitimate decrease in crime rates. Lackadaisical efforts are not protecting us, and citizens have the right to safety when using public transportation.