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The Guardian Angels, a volunteer crime prevention group, will resume patrols on the New York City subways following the death of a man Woman burned alive a week ago.
“We are now back where we were when I founded the group in the subway in 1979. The circle closes. I’ve never seen it this bad. Never,” said founder Curtis Sliwa The New York Post Sunday.
Sliwa founded the guardian angels because “the need was there” for an increase in violent crime. Forty-five years later, he argued that “the need is now back” and his group “will strengthen.”
“We cover the actual trains from front to back, walking through the trains and making sure everything is in order,” he said. “We do this all the time now. From today on we will be fully focused on this because the subways are getting out of control.”
Sliwa claimed that hundreds of people had used his group’s services. (FOX 5 NYC/Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
The group received an incentive after an illegal immigrant was arrested for allegedly setting a woman on fire in a subway car, where she eventually burned to death. Since then, Sliwa said they have received requests from “hundreds” of people to provide services.
“We need to increase our numbers, improve training and increase our presence like we did in 1979,” Sliwa said.
Sliwa said 150 members will begin patrolling the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station where the woman was killed. They plan to provide health checks and water to homeless and other emotionally disturbed passengers while also reporting problems to the NYPD.
Meanwhile, he stressed his hope that his group would inspire New Yorkers to be more than just spectators.
The Guardian Angels were founded in 1979 after a spike in violent crime in New York City. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“There are so many trains coming and going here,” Sliwa said. “It’s the perfect place because it reminds people that a week ago nobody did anything. Nobody intervened. Nobody pointed at the police and said, ‘That’s that guy.’ Even the police didn’t do anything.
“It was an example of people just not getting involved,” he said. “And we’re here to say, ‘If you see something, say something.’ You have to do something.
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The announcement came less than two weeks after New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that 750 members of the National Guard and 250 members of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) The police were deployed on patrol the New York subway system before the holidays.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced the deployment of hundreds of National Guard members to patrol the New York subway system ahead of the holiday season. (Getty Images)
“It is clear to me, as I have heard from many people, that the presence of the National Guard has made not only a physical but also a psychological difference in their attitudes toward security,” Hochul said. “When people see a person in uniform — even our National Guard — they feel safer.”
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