Emily Chan
During the COVID-19 pandemic, crime skyrocketed on New York City’s subways and buses. So, not only did transit workers have to deal with the risk of contracting a potentially deadly disease, but they also had to face violent attacks while on the job.
According to a recent study led by researchers at the NYU School of Global Public Health, 89 percent of public-facing transit workers in New York City were assaulted or harassed by unruly, violent passengers from 2020 to 2023.
“Transit workers are our city’s unsung heroes—they kept New York City functioning during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it came at a cost to these frontline workers,” said Robyn Gershon, the study’s senior author and a clinical professor of epidemiology at the NYU School of Global Public Health.
“They not only experienced high rates of COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and even death, but throughout the pandemic, they have experienced very high rates of victimization.
We hope that providing evidence of the harassment and violence that workers face can lead to better data on transit worker safety and improved policies protecting this vital workforce.”
Due to efforts by the state, city, and Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), crime on subways has decreased, but attacks against subway workers and bus drivers still occur.
Since 2020, Gershon and colleagues have been evaluating how COVID-19 has impacted New York City’s transit workers.
In the study, they surveyed 1,297 public-facing transit workers in late 2023 and early 2024 about their work experiences during the pandemic.
They asked workers if they had ever been subjected to verbal harassment, physical assault, groping, cat-calling, or had something stolen from them. Nearly nine out of 10 employees—89 percent—reported experiencing some form of victimization.
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