Metro

Subway assaults jump by over 50 percent to highest total in 11 months

Felony assaults on the New York City transit system spiked more than 50 percent between February and March — reaching the highest total since the NYPD began increasing subway patrols 11 months ago, new data shows.

Despite the troubling increase in assaults, subway crime overall was flat last month compared to February, according to NYPD data released Friday.

There were 180 felony crimes recorded on the subways in March — down two from February. But the number of felony assaults jumped from 41 in February to 62 in March, according to the new stats.

The figure reflects the highest number of felony assaults since last May, when a string of high profile crimes spurred then-Mayor Bill de Blasio — at the urging of the MTA — to increase the number of police patrols in the subway system.

May 2021 saw 65 felony assaults — including a vicious string of slashings committed by a single assailant in a 35-minute span on May 14.

Three days later, on May 17, de Blasio relented to weeks of pressure from the state-run MTA and agreed to add 125 extra cops to the morning and evening rush hours.

Felony assaults on New York City subways increased 50 percent between February and March. DCPI

Assaults dropped significantly the next month, and had remained stable until now.

De Blasio’s successor, Mayor Eric Adams, has continued to increase the number of cops underground in response to high profile crimes — most recently after the mass shooting in Brooklyn this month that left 10 people with gunshot wounds and another 19 injured.

The NYPD’s reported subway crime rates have remained stubbornly above pre-pandemic figures when adjusted for ridership, which currently stands at around 55 percent of what it was in 2019.

Transit assaults are at their highest since police increased their presence on subways 11 months ago. NYPD

The number of felony crimes per million riders was just over two in March, a 13 percent drop compared to February but well above the 1.47 crimes per million riders reported in 2019.

Just 2.8 million people rode the subway last Thursday, according to MTA figures — 54.6 percent compared to a similar pre-pandemic day.

In March, subway riders faced everything from stabbings and slashings to hammer attacks and sexual assaults.

This month a mass shooting on a Brooklyn subway left 10 with gunshot wounds and 19 injured. AP

One victim of a brutal hammer attack at 14th Street-7th Ave. station told The Post that they’d had it with out-of-control subway crime.

“We’re trying to live our lives as well as we can, you know, and it’s just unfortunate that we have to face all these adversities, along with just all the struggles in life,” the 29-year old victim said shortly after surviving the attack.

“It’s hard because if we have to be afraid or just be constantly aware, be afraid of anyone who is passing by you and just, you know, who knows what they have, it’s not really a way to live.”