MANHATTAN, N.Y. (WPIX) — A woman’s feet had to be amputated after she was allegedly pushed onto subway tracks by her boyfriend in Lower Manhattan on Saturday, according to authorities.
Police found the 29-year-old woman on the tracks inside the Fulton Street subway station shortly before 10:30 a.m. New York Police said they determined a southbound No. 3 train struck the victim after she was shoved onto the train tracks
First responders rushed the woman to a hospital for treatment, where her feet were amputated.
Investigators say the woman and her boyfriend were involved in a domestic dispute that led to the incident. It’s unclear if an arrest has been made.
“She may never be able to walk again,” Jack Nierenberg, vice president of Passengers United, said. “This is just one of many incidents we’ve been seeing this year alone.”
City data shows subway crimes are on the rise, with a 13% spike in violence compared to this time last year.
Last week, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a series of changes for New York City’s subway system following a string of high-profile crimes, including two back-to-back shootings that killed two people in the Bronx and a slashing in Brooklyn.
Hochul said Wednesday that she will deploy 750 members of the National Guard to the subways to assist the New York Police Department with bag searches at entrances to busy train stations.
The deployment of the National Guard would bolster an enhanced presence of NYPD officers in the subway system. The governor said she will also send 250 state troopers and police officers from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, a state agency, to help with the bag searches.
Police in New York have long conducted random bag checks at subway entrances, though passengers are free to refuse and leave the station, raising questions of whether the searches are an effective policing tactic in a subway system that serves over 3 million riders per day.
The newest effort is part of a multi-pronged approach to subway safety announced by Hochul Wednesday, which will include bag checks in busy New York City subway stations, new legislation and expanded mental health outreach.
Additionally, cameras will be installed in conductor cabins across New York City’s subway system after a conductor was slashed in Brooklyn. Cameras facing conductor cabins will also be installed on platforms, Hochul said.
Two years ago, Hochul announced that surveillance cameras would be put in all subway cars — the rollout of which has been sped up to address recent crimes. The MTA has already installed 15,000 cameras in subways, according to MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber.
Hochul said she will introduce legislation to allow judges to ban people convicted of violent crimes on the subway from riding for at least three years. Similar legislation already exists but has only been used three times since 2020, she said.
“Basically, if you assault someone on the subways, you won’t be on the subways,” Hochul said.
Overall, crime has dropped in New York City since a spike during the COVID-19 pandemic, and killings are down on the subway system.
The Associated Press and WPIX’s Emily Rahhal contributed to this report.
