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Riders at 53rd St. station where man was fatally shot say they worry about gun violence
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Oct 19, 2026 at 12:42 p.m. ET
Modified Oct 19, 2026 at 2:25 p.m. ET
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Ramsey Khalifeh Gothamist
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Oct 19, 2026 at 12:42 p.m. ET
Modified Oct 19, 2026 at 2:25 p.m. ET
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Several commuters who use the busy Midtown train station where a man was shot and killed Saturday say they worry about persistent gun violence — as NYPD statistics show murders and felony assaults in the transit system have increased this year.
“I’m a new parent, and so I have a different relationship with public safety than I did in the past,” 48-year-old commuter Paul Booth said during the morning rush at the 53rd Street-Seventh Avenue station Monday morning. Booth regularly uses the Midtown station, where the NYPD says Bronx resident Darrel Rodriguez was shot Saturday after a dispute between Rodriguez and another man.
“I think gun violence is an issue for the city, an issue for the nation and one that I worry about increasingly,” Booth said.
Murders and felony assaults in the transit system are up this year through Oct. 11 compared to the same period last year, according to the latest data available from the NYPD. Police data shows there have been six murders in the transit system so far this year, compared to four during the same period last year. Felony assaults are also up, with 525 reported incidents, compared to 470 last year.
The data, from the NYPD's public CompStat system, does not yet include Rodriguez's killing. In that incident, police said, a man approached Rodriguez on a northbound E train platform at the station before shooting him once in the chest. Rodriguez was transported to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the NYPD has said.
Reported murders are down nearly 20% year-to-date in the city overall, according to the NYPD data, though felony assaults remain roughly even with 2025. Experts say felony assaults can have a particularly large impact on the public's perception of safety.
Margot Wilensky, another commuter at the 53rd Street station Monday, said her elderly father was assaulted at Penn Station last year but was unable to report the crime because of a lack of police nearby.
“I don't particularly love living here after 25 years anymore, but then again, I think that if you're aware of your surroundings and whatnot, random things do happen,” Wilensky, 45, said. “But I think that it's still OK. … A lot of things are not reported.”
As of Monday morning, the NYPD was still looking for the shooter in Rodriguez's killing. Images police shared with the public show a man wearing a red tracksuit, black vest, black face mask and carrying a backpack.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani said at an unrelated event Monday that while the city has "made strides in making our subways safer, and we also know that this shooting serves as an incredibly painful reminder of all that still has to be done to root out the scourge of gun violence from across our city."
He didn't directly address a question from a reporter about whether the NYPD would be putting more personnel on the subway system.
"I have full confidence in our PD, in their work to apprehend the suspect, and I am confident in the approach that they are taking at this time," Mamdani said.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that murders and felony assaults in the subway system had declined this year. Both have increased compared to the same period last year. The story has been updated with the correct figures.
Tagged
bronx
manhattan
public safety
transportation
Ramsey Khalifeh
Ramsey Khalifeh is a transportation reporter on the NYC Accountability desk covering the largest transit system in the country. He was previously a general assignment reporter at Gothamist and worked on the Boston Globe's metro and copy desk. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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