Maybe we need some divine intervention underground.
Transit passengers in New York City say they fear for their lives and are even “asking God for help” after a number of disturbing, violent incidents at subway and train stations that have left people on edge.
Philomena Ofosu, a 24-year-old nurse from the Bronx, said she prays for her safety every time she boards a train.
“I am a Christian and I ask God to take me safely to where I need to be and back,” she told The Post on Wednesday at Grand Central Terminal — hours after two people were stabbed there by a knife-wielding maniac on Christmas Eve .
“No one is safe here,” she said. “You never know what could happen on the train. It’s so scary when people get stabbed on the train. They think they’re going somewhere and they’re going to get stabbed.”
Others have taken their safety into their own hands, like Brooklyn resident Miranda Drakes, who has been carrying pepper spray on the subway since the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
“It’s terrible in New York City right now,” the 58-year-old said of the recent wave of violence.
In addition to the attack on Grand Central, the Big Apple was rocked this week when a woman was fatally set on fire by an illegal immigrant on the F train at Coney Island — marking the metro’s ninth homicide this year, leaving 25 dead. year old high.
Despite efforts by the NYPD to have more officers patrol the subway system and Governor Kathy Hochul’s recent deployment of a thousand National Guardsmen to the subway system over the holidays, straphangers are not convinced enough is being done to address the situation .
‘I think he [Mayor Adams] tries his best, but I guess it’s winter now, there’s no place for the homeless to go, so they stay on the train. They need someone to really help them,” Drakes added.
Junior Reyes, who is also from Brooklyn, said “it’s just ridiculous” what has been happening in the subway lately — including the rampant drug use.
“You have people who like to smoke and [stuff] right on the train – that means my children had to see that. It’s not good,” he said.
The city must do more to get mentally ill people off the streets and onto the subways, he said.
“I mean things happen, but give them more support,” he said.
Bronx resident Shabe Davis, 49, said she thinks the city should “bring more safety to the subway.” She said she feels “safe” because she has been able to avoid violent arguments, “but not everyone is so lucky.”
The violence was especially stunning for tourists from abroad visiting the Big Apple.
Celia Lovis, 28, from Switzerland, told The Post “we are not used to this kind of violence” in her home country, calling the recent incidents “really shocking.”
Amparo Corrales, a journalist from Madrid, Spain who is visiting New York with her daughter Ines Alonso, 14, said they avoided the train at night.
“It’s quite scary. You’re having a normal day on the subway and someone stabs you,” Ines said.
