A vicious incident occurred at a Subway station in New York City: an Asian woman was pushed off the track and crushed to death

【Text/Observer Network Zhou Yibo】

According to the New York Times, on January 15, local time, a vicious incident occurred at the Times Square subway station in Manhattan, New York, USA. A man suddenly pushed an Asian woman waiting for the train off the track as the train entered the station, causing her to die on the spot.

New York police said the killer had a history of mental illness and may have been homeless, and there was no indication that the victim had been targeted because of his race. Prosecutors in the Manhattan area of New York are preparing to bring charges against the man.

Since the outbreak of the epidemic in the United States, the influx of homeless people in New York City subway stations, including many mentally ill and addicts, has caused a series of social problems, and the incident is also the second death case in New York City subway stations at the beginning of this year.

New York Mayor Eric Adams said the "stupid violence" in the incident showed that the "underground mental health crisis" urgently needed to be addressed. Earlier, Adams and New York Gov. Kathy Huhr announced plans to make police "omnipresent" in the subway while enhancing services for the homeless through trained mental health professionals.

After the crime, New York City police rushed to the Manhattan Times Square subway station Source: The New York Times

According to the New York Times, at about 9:30 a.m. on January 15, Michelle Gao, a 40-year-old Asian woman living on manhattan's Upper West Side in New York, was waiting at Times Square. As the train entered the station, Simon Marcier, a 61-year-old man, suddenly pushed Ms. Gao off the track, causing her to die instantly from the impact and crushing.

New York police said Marcier took the subway to Lower Manhattan after the attack and told police at Canal Street Station that she had pushed a woman onto the tracks.

Mr. Marcier had been in contact with authorities on at least three occasions before Ms. Gao was pushed down, and he had confronted another woman a few minutes before ms. Gao was pushed down, threatening to push her off track.

Records by New York police and the New York state government show that Marcier has also been arrested several times before and sentenced to prison twice, including one for attempted robbery, and his parole has just ended recently.

The report pointed out that the Asian identity of the victim, Ms. Gao, sparked a controversy about "hate crimes against Asians in New York," but New York police said there was no indication that Ms. Gao had been targeted because of her race.

Prosecutors in the Manhattan area of New York are preparing to bring charges against the man.

The incident was also the second death at a Subway station in New York City at the beginning of the year.

On Jan. 1, a man jumped off a track to help a man who fell after being attacked by a group of teenagers and was killed by a train. Afterwards, two teenagers in the incident were charged with murder.

According to the New York Times, since the outbreak of the epidemic in the United States, a large number of homeless people have poured into new York City subway stations, including many mentally ill people and addicts, causing a series of social problems, not only bringing "shock and fear", but also making headlines.

In April 2020, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo publicly displayed a front-page footage of the New York Daily News showing the homeless lying in empty train seats. Cuomo declared the picture "disgusting."

In February 2021, after a man living in a homeless shelter stabbed four homeless people inside and outside a subway station, former New York City Mayor De Blasio sent an additional 500 police officers to patrol the subway system.

In May 2021, after another subway station attack, De Blasio sent an additional 250 police officers, saying it would bring the number of police patrolling the subway system to an all-time high.

Many subway passengers complain that they often encounter insanity and threats against others, but whether the crime rate in subway stations has increased is still controversial.

The data shows that there were 50 more felony attacks at New York City subway stations in the first 11 months of 2019 than in all of 2021.

However, because subway traffic during that period also decreased significantly, even less than half of what it was before the outbreak, the proportion of robberies per million passengers more than doubled.

Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo shows front page of The New York Daily News Source: New York Daily News

This series of current conditions also suggests that the city's mechanisms for helping people with severe mental illness have been severely compromised and under-resourced.

Some advocates for the homeless claim that people who are mentally unstable or violent are often taken to hospital emergency rooms and then discharged directly because there is no place to take them in.

While the two deaths in 2022 will spark calls for more police to be deployed in the subway, activists warn against using this as an excuse to harass the "most vulnerable" in the city.

"It's a terrible tragedy, but it shouldn't be an excuse to step up the police force." Craig Hughes, a social watchdog at the Urban Justice Center, a nonprofit legal services and advocacy group in New York City, said, "More police presence doesn't necessarily mean more security, but for many homeless people, it means less security." ”

On January 6, the new mayor of New York, Eric Adams, and New York Governor Kathy Huhr announced that in order to make the City subway safer, police officers would be "ubiquitous" in the subway.

They said more than 2,000 police officers would be sent to patrol the subway system and would "sweep" subway platforms and trains more frequently. In addition, New York State plans to develop small teams of social workers and health professionals to provide mental health services to thousands of homeless people on New York's streets and subway stations.

After the incident on the 15th, Adams said at a news conference that the "stupid violence" in the incident showed that the "underground mental health crisis" urgently needed to be solved.

New York Mayor Eric Adams Source: Visual China

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