Republican challenger Saritha Komatireddy on Sunday accused state Attorney General Letitia James of allowing “chaos in the subways” to persist after a fatal shooting at a crowded Midtown station sent tourists scrambling the previous day.
Komatireddy, a former federal prosecutor, spoke to reporters at the Seventh Avenue and 53rd Street station, where Saturday’s shooting occurred. She argued that James’ allegedly soft-on-crime approach and opposition to police have helped drive transit violence higher even as many other serious crimes in New York City have fallen to historic lows.
“This is why so many families, hard-working New Yorkers and even tourists don’t feel safe coming into New York and using the subways,” Komatireddy said. “Under Letitia James, felony assaults in the transit systems have gone up 94%. That means they’ve doubled.”
“That is for one simple reason: James has chosen to investigate the cops who police the subways instead of investigating the violent criminals who create chaos in the subways,” she said. “She actually calls that progress. I call it failure. It’s not progress, it’s failure, and we need to treat it as such.”
“The reality is right now in New York subways, we have chaos in the trains.”
Police said the deadly shooting unfolded at about 12:20 p.m. Saturday after the victim became involved in an argument with the gunman.
The Midtown station was crowded with tourists when the shooter opened fire, hitting the unidentified victim before fleeing. The wounded man was left on the northbound platform, where he later died, according to police.
Law-enforcement sources told The Post that the shooting appeared to be targeted, emphasizing there was “nothing random between these two individuals.” Authorities have not released additional details.
Komatireddy also accused James of remaining largely silent on transit crime while aggressively pursuing investigations into the NYPD, including a 2021 lawsuit alleging excessive force during Black Lives Matter protests.
“As attorney general, I will launch a sweeping transit-crime crackdown,” Komatireddy said. “We will start a transit-crime strike force in the attorney general’s office. We will ensure that transit crimes are enforced, and we will remove repeat and violent offenders from the trains and buses.”
James’ office did not respond Sunday to The Post’s request for comment.
A rise in transit-related murders from January through mid-October has blemished an otherwise strong year for the NYPD. Statistics released earlier this month showed that murders and shootings across the five boroughs had declined so far this year.
Still, subway crime—including assaults and thefts—was slightly higher, increasing 0.9% to 1,628 reported incidents through Oct. 6, compared with 1,613 during the same period last year.
The latest NYPD figures, covering the period through Oct. 11, showed citywide murders down nearly 20% from last year. Transit crime, however, was up 1.6% compared with the corresponding period in 2024.
