'I Kept My Eyes Open': Commuters Return To Sunset Park Subway Station

BROOKLYN, NY — A steady stream of commuters exited 36th Street subway station Wednesday morning — where a still-at-large gunman shot 10 people the day before — but most straphangers said the station felt emptier than usual.

“There were about one-third as many people as usual in my car,” said Kim, who commutes daily from Gravesend to her job at a Sunset Park medical supply store. “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.”

Millions of New Yorkers returned to regular commutes Wednesday, but a sense of unease remained for many at 36th Street station in Sunset Park.

Ishaq, a shipping and packaging worker who was behind the train where the shooting took place Tuesday, thought about driving into work Wednesday but changed his mind after seeing how long it would take.

“It was quieter on the train,” he said, recalling the mayhem the last time he passed through the station. “We skipped the stop, but I still saw all the stuff out of the window. I thought it was a terrorist attack. I thought it was more than just a crazy person.”

Frank Robert James, 62, is currently the sole suspect in Tuesday’s subway attack. The motives of the gunman remain elusive, Mayor Eric Adams said yesterday, but James reportedly posted dozens of troubling videos on social media in recent years.

Other commuters at 36th Street thought about forgoing the subway Wednesday over fears of returning to the station, but chose to anyway.

Cat, who works in Industry City, decided to take the train after seeing how much it would cost her to take a Lyft from Bushwick, where she lives. (Both Uber and Lyft were criticized for upping prices in the wake of Tuesday’s attack, but have since promised to refund charges.)

“People on the train were more on edge than usual,” Cat said. “There was just a lot of looking around, not as many people on their phones.”

When asked if the half-dozen or so NYPD officers in the station made the commute feel safer, straphangers were torn.

Some commuters were pleased to see the officers and said they would like to see more police in the station, including Kaya who takes the train from Crown Heights to Sunset Park daily.

“I saw on the news that there was going to be more police and more security, but I didn’t notice anything different,” she said. “I want to see more police on the trains and on the platforms.”

Others, though, were skeptical of the city’s choice to increase police presence in subway stations in the wake of the violence.

“The police already have a massive budget and the [36th Street] station was already full of officers,” said Rick, who works at a photo and video rental company in Sunset Park and also commutes daily from Crown Heights. “I don’t see how adding more police or giving them more money would do anything because it didn’t seem to stop this in the first place.”

Above ground, NYPD officers and vehicles were all-but-outnumbered by reporters and news trucks lining the blocks surrounding the station.

A teacher stood on the corner of 35th Street and Fourth Avenue near Sunset Park High School — one of several schools that was under lockdown all day Tuesday — saying good morning to teenagers getting off the train and helping to usher them into the building. “Walk past the cameras,” he instructed.

By late morning, the massive manhunt was still underway for James, who was previously considered a person of interest in the mass shooting.

NYPD officials, who tied James to the attack by a U-Haul key found in the N train car where a gas-masked shooter detonated smoke grenades before firing at least 33 shots, released a renewed call for helping to track him down, 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.