The Brooklyn Shooting
Words by Fabliha Hussain
Image Courtesy of gothamist.com
As New Yorkers, we are no stranger to the subway system. In fact, The City College of New York has a few trains that come here, including the 1, A, C, B, and D. The B line was one of the lines affected on Wednesday morning during an incident in the subway. Around 8:30 AM on April 12, 2022, at least 33 shots were fired on the N train at Sunset Park with at least 10 passengers being shot and a few others being injured.
On Wednesday, a man by the name of Frank James was identified and arrested in regards to the shooting. James had dressed as a construction worker and gotten on the N train. As the N train approached the 36th Street station, James set off gas canisters and put on a gas mask. As the cart filled with smoke, James started firing shots, creating a panic and critically injuring five people. When the train stopped at the 36th Street station, everyone rushed off on to the opposing R train as did James. He then exited the subway station at the 25th Street stop.
This incident follows the new mayor’s Eric Adams police policies which put more cops on the subways in reaction to the increasing crime and attacks on civilians. Even with 3,500 police officers patrolling the subways, James still managed to carry out this extreme shooting, terrorizing and traumatizing New Yorkers. Indeed, it was found that the security cameras at the station did not even work that morning. It took the police force over a day to identify James as a suspect and arrest him. Surveillance video from the area nearby the parked U-Haul that James rented on the day of showed him walking into the subway station in his construction vest with a suitcase. In fact, once the alerts were sent out that the police were looking for him, James seems to have called a tip in himself, leading to his subsequent arrest. On top of that, Zack Tahan, a Syrian immigrant and a security-camera installer, had reported that he had seen James, aiding in James’ arrest. James had a significant criminal history including a criminal sex act. He had posted online in retaliation to Adams policies.
New Yorkers are outraged and frightened at this incident. Many take the subway every day to and from work and recently, the danger has only gotten worse, from beatings to stabbings to theft and now a shooting. During the pandemic, there was a huge increase in crimes against Asian Americans specifically. It seems that this may be perpetuating other crimes. Unfortunately, as COVID-19 seems to be less of a risk in New York, the crime has become a risk to all citizens. New Yorkers do not feel safe. Not on the subways or the streets, and Adams is not making any significant changes. He appears to be funneling money into a heavy police presence, but the police could not prevent this incident from occurring nor many other severe attacks. Instead, they seem to be cracking down on sellers, subway performers, and turnstile jumpers.
What is frightening for students at CCNY is that many of these crimes have been occurring on the train lines that run through Harlem. College students need to be more aware and perhaps consider self-defense weapons such as pepper spray. Hopefully, our new mayor can see that New York City is in trouble and start turning things around for the sake of its citizens.
