“People are scared,” she said. “My friends and neighbors don’t come out at night here anymore.”
“You definitely see more mental illness on the train,” said Ms. Tarmu, far from Line A in Crown Heights. However, she added, “you see a lot more anger on board from people who are completely sane.”
In Queens, Belief in Neighbors, New and Old
Jade Williams, who took a direct flight to Kennedy International and stood on the podium at the Howard Beach-JFK Airport stop, said she was delighted to be visiting the city from her home in the UK. She went to school in New York, she said, and traveled frequently in Europe; She knows the city.
“I don’t necessarily feel unsafe,” she said. “Probably because I’ve lived here before.”
A few stops further south, Stuart Walton has always called Far Rockaway home. He said he followed crime news in other parts of the city and was always vigilant when riding the train. But on his block, the neighbors looked out at each other.
“Grandma, they raised us as children,” he said. In his neighborhood, that sense of community hasn’t changed, he said.
But Edward Weathers, who lived a few blocks from Mr. Walton, thought about his eight-year-old son and the city he would inherit.
“We can’t protect him as much as we like,” Mr Weathers said. He worries about him, he said, and he worries that New Yorkers put too much faith in politicians to clean up the city. He believes the answer is for communities to start finding out for themselves.
