NYC subway dragging death reveals a hidden danger that puts every rider at risk

Gov.Kathy Hochul still can’t protect New Yorkers from subway violence, as last week’s unprovoked knifing murder on a Queens J train reminded us. And crime is magnifying another peril: the risk that a train will run you over.To address both risks, Hochul should direct the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority to update union work rules and make everyone safer.

 Last week, with no warning, an “emotionally disturbed” person repeatedly stabbed construction worker Mesias Lojano as the train both were riding neared Woodhaven Blvd.Lojano, 59, was the subway system’s sixth murder victim of the year. His death is yet another reminder that subway carnage remains far worse than it was before 2020.From 1997 to 2019, the decades before Albany implemented criminal justice “reforms,” New York City experienced an average of two transit murders each year.

 But from 2020 through last year, perpetrators have killed an average of seven mass-transit riders annually — and we’re on track to meet or exceed that figure for 2026. Through August, felony assaults are up 10% from last year, to 435 — a total that’s 84% higher than the comparable figure from 2019.

 One problem is that the state and city still go too easy on repeat offenders.In this latest case, police had arrested alleged killer Jyrell Thomas just weeks before, for theft from a Bronx Target and for attempting to flee.But he went free, even though petty theft often isn’t an economic crime, but a cry for help from a disordered mind. The pervasive atmosphere of violence has impacted subway staff, too.Through July, subway workers have suffered 42 assaults, up from 37 for the same period last year, and skyrocketing from just 16 in the first seven months of 2019. Workers terrified of violence can’t do their jobs.Last Monday subway passenger Yaw Boahene, who appeared to be disabled, was killed after being dragged along the platform when he tried to exit the A train at Brooklyn’s Utica A...