Conduct System-Wide Safety Review, Queens BP Says After Subway Attack

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — Leaders in Queens urged the city to conduct a system-wide safety review after an attack left 23 people injured Tuesday at 36th Street subway station.

"The MTA, NYPD and all relevant agencies must conduct an immediate, system-wide review of subway safety and emergency response protocols to help prevent such an assault on our city and its people from occurring ever again," said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards several hours after a gas-masked shooter detonated smoke grenades and fired at least 33 shots into an N train car.

In the wake of the attack — after first responders rushed to Sunset Park, helping victims and combing closed off streets and rooftops for the perpetrator — Mayor Eric Adams confirmedthat at least one station surveillance camera malfunctioned during the shooting.

Still, the mayor said that the city is exploring installing metal detector technology in stations to increase transit safety. The city also increased police police presence in subway stations, where crime has spiked this year.

Earlier in the week, Forest Hills' City Council Member, Lynn Schulman, spoke out against shootings in general, which are also up amid this year's reported crime wave.

"Shootings in our community and others are not acceptable," she said, alluding to a bar fight in Forest Hills Sunday night that left one young man hurt.

Some experts, though, said that Tuesday's subway shooting fits a national pattern of mass shootings — lone shooters who often give off warning signs — separate from the citywide increase in crime.

Frank Robert James, 62, who was previously considered a person of interest in the mass shooting is currently the sole suspect in the attack.

The motives of the gunman remain elusive, Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday, but James reportedly posted dozens of troubling videos on social media in recent years.

"[The mass shooting narrative] would suggest that we need better threat assessment, more red flag laws, and in fact reasonable restrictions on gun purchasing and operation" in response to this incident, Thomas Abt, senior fellow for the Council on Criminal Justice, told NPR Wednesday.

While the massive manhunt for James was still underway Wednesday morning, millions of New Yorkers returned to regular commutes, but a sense of unease remained for many at 36th Street station in Sunset Park.

"I had no choice but to take the train since I had to get to work, but I kept my eyes all the way open," a commuter named Kim told Patch.

Ultimately, Richards said that he just wants New Yorkers to feel safe in the city.

"No New Yorker should ever fear for their lives on their subway ride to work or school," he said. "We will never cower in the face of such callous violence, and we will respond with resolve and love for one another as we always do as a city."

NYPD officials released a renewed call for helping to track down James Wednesday, offering $50,000 for information leading to his arrest and indictment.

The city also issued an emergency alert Wednesday morning, asking residents to direct information about James to the NYPD tip line at 1-800-577-TIPS.