1989 subway crime story

This 1989 file report from Channel 9 looks at the record crime rate in the New York City subway system.
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[@andresdr]

History has a funny way of repeating itself

[@sofiavondell7943]

Well ::…..we knew this was coming, completely intentional

[@simone2125]

Yup! You took the words right out of my mouth

[@astroprotector]

same people back then causing problems are the same people today causing the same problem. THe big ass elephant in the room everyone is afraid to call out for fear of being labeled racist

[@astroprotector]

@@SparkyPlugz At no time I mentioned any specific race. You in your feelings of insecurity I see 👀

[@laughalotitsgoodforyourbod7627]

Yes and someone told me it doesn’t repeat itself unless you want it to.

[@angc.8810]

I was a teenager at this time remember all of this. Passengers always helped no one stood around videoing back then.

[@DWilliam1]

No one had a cell phone…

[@angc.8810]

@@DWilliam1 exactly cell phones nowadays could be a good and a bad thing. It depends on how people use them. Me i see an emergency I dail for help and then you have people who see something happening and stand there filming 🙄

[@richiebee1984]

I WAS 5 YEARS OLD LIVING IN BROWNSVILLE BACK THEN!!

[@Bloodsport1]

Videotape with what?

[@martareitmajer]

Probably because they didn’t have handheld cameras…

[@dominicperez3777]

This was in 1989 and 33 years later the city's repeating it.

[@DWilliam1]

It was much worse back then. People have no idea. NYC had about 5 times the amount of murders than we do today.

[@DonGivani]

Keep voting Blue and you will see groundhog day every single day

[@SIKE01]

they voted for DINKINS over GIULIANI.

[@laughalotitsgoodforyourbod7627]

@@DonGivani red blue it’s happening in both states. Them fossils need to go all of them roaches.

[@MrGarrycamp]

​@@SIKE01 GIULIANI blue didn't make matter better either just worse if you were a person of color in NYC during the 90's, so stop defending that trump wannabe deutch bag!

[@dang5297]

I love old reports like this

[@Fat_Catt]

So eerie.. it's like watching today's news, right now. The city has backslide to it's worst of times, and this horrible economy and job situation will only worsen it. Add to that, people no longer help each other, but instead encourage violence solely for their entertainment. I'm glad I moved out of Queens and got a job in Long Island. I commuted from queens into manhattan, through ghetto brooklyn, for 10+ years for college and work and have seen almost all of it. After COVID and the release of criminals from Riker's island onto the subway and bail reform, things noticeably got worse.

[@keepinitreal567]

And at the same train stop that’s always the most Trouble 125 street 456 line !

[@Raven1180]

Such a weak man you are. Just reading your words says it all.

[@alephnull7410]

Can we all say what the common factor between now and then is?

[@devious100dd]

Well, in NY if you try and help someone and you injure the perpetrator, you will go to jail, you will be arrested and run through the system. NY needs to do away with their “duty to flee” policy. NY needs self defense laws that don’t favor criminals. Life long moderate dem, but I am done with the soft on crime liberal politicians that are more concerned about teaching children about sex and homosexuality, than keeping our city safe. Voting Lee Zeldin.

[@shawnhall9792]

Well you know queen's is apart of long Island so technically you didn't leave lol

[@carad26]

This is pretty the same crap that going on now and least back then new Yorkers had more heart!!!!!

[@DjBolt11]

A huge difference that can be seen. Everyone is quick to record you now instead of helping you. Sad reality

[@1x1HealthyEnergybyAndrew]

@@DjBolt11 most of them are illegal immigrants

[@dannybx78]

They're called snitches. Anyone who records you on their phone without your consent.

[@LouieV6]

Nothing has changed on the 125th street station in East Harlem. There’s always some one of shady activity going on there.

[@CHARIOTangler]

I wonder why...

[@Trini190]

They have meth clinics and shelters around there that’s why

[@beastmode63]

Nasty and disgusting

[@hakimbandaru1915]

Of course it is. Just look at the people it houses. You see black you know it’s time to run the opposite way.

[@Zeus-qz2yj]

From the video the station looked better back in 89 lol

[@JohnJones-fq7gf]

Nothing has changed I’m 33 I was born in 89 😂😂

[@schuandrayoung7655]

And same shit still going on Today but even worse!!!!! Smh!

[@melorod2952]

Well atleast in 1989 if u committed a crime u stayed in jail

[@NJgateway]

I was 19 years old living in New Jersey. I remember this.

[@JC-fd8ho]

Is America all like that? In terms of crime

[@abdjayyusi5915]

@@JC-fd8ho No

[@chickencharlie4539]

@@JC-fd8ho Mainly, big cities, NYC, Chicago, Baltimore, Memphis, Rochester, New Orleans, Oakland, Tulsa, Portland.

[@jbRoma]

Wow yeah i heard some serious stories from back in the day

[@doroniteam612]

please hurry up now and start trade with Timothy Gregg and get 10% bonus free

[@benjaminjohn5784]

how can i get started ?

[@doroniteam612]

84328

[@doroniteam612]

46395

[@doroniteam612]

his available on whats app

[@Vip__honey]

Congrats to everyone who is early And who found this comment 👏 ❤

[@sct4040]

In 1989, I was working in my 1st full time job at Mount Sinai on 96th street. Thanks for the memories. Wish the 2nd Ave line was finished then. 😅

[@babyshaya]

I took this exact train 5 days a week for years during this time. For the most part it was still safer than it is today. Bernie goetz is a hero

[@thomaskwiatkowskiesq.328]

Is there another Bernie around, willing to put everything on the line for the sake of the safety of others? I don't think so...$5 and the brief humiliation of being threatened with a screwdriver are in the minds of most nowadays New Yorkers a small price to pay for a piece of mind.

[@mauricewilliams8609]

PS what happened to the guardian angels I guess you have to ask the X- mayor of New York Bloomberg that question

[@stephenheath8465]

They left around this time that when those BK Kids start running around on the Trains

[@mauricewilliams8609]

Made a slight mistake we're going right back to the days of the Wild Wild West when you have to be strapped in order to protect yourself

[@strongbad2016]

Being strapped is the best move ever. If NYC legalizes this expect crimes to drop big time. Criminals will think twice before acting stupid. There r reasons why there were lots of acts of crimes being stopped by armed citizens on the scenes in red states

[@eddieb1995]

@@user-yv7dt5je1l we should be smarter than that. This is a criminal mind set. I can, therefore I will.

[@tasha1holla]

Definitely feels like the 80s all over again and I was born in 88 😫

[@asiarodriguez8325]

History repeats itself

[@CHARIOTangler]

MORE VINTAGE NEWS, PLEASE🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@Mary-io1mb]

Ed Koch was Mayor and Mario Cuomo was Governor at that time- both DEMOCRATS. Let that sink in….

[@mauricewilliams8609]

If you don't have a any criminal charges against you what's the stop you from possessing your own firearm it's getting to that point we're going right back to

[@temporarybackup5077]

It's still sort of a social taboo mainly pushed by the folks that benefit greatly from controlled chaos who's wining and dining here watching it all unfold but really got vacation homes elsewhere. More dysfunction means more funding for their programs, means more siphoning monies to the right pockets until it makes it war full circle back to the top.

[@rmd4138]

We also had the Guardian Angels and the Traditional Muslims who got off and on the different cars at various stops, as well as the Transit Cops. It made a big difference.

[@MohammadHassan-ud8iq]

Traditional Muslims who protected people on the train. Never heard about that.

[@rmd4138]

@@MohammadHassan-ud8iq Yep. Black Traditional Muslims. Headquarters was on Bushwick Ave. in Brooklyn. If you are a Native New Yorker who rode the trains frequently, especially in Brooklyn, you would remember.

[@mtasubwaymartasubway]

​@@rmd4138 Born and raised in NYC, ridden all subway lines from the time of this news reporting, never seen any Muslim group in what you're talking about.

[@rogerkim1910]

hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, weak mean create hard times. current we are in early part of the 4th stage. I believe we will be in hard times in a few years

[@castlejrichardson6308]

I remember working security in the late 80s and I seen a lot of crazy stuff going on between the Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens

[@danielsalgado2976]

Well in 2022 it looks like we went back to the 1980's. Welcome back! It's a horror story.

[@BARGAIN02]

30 years later with all the technology we have today this should never happen

[@vmunit2931]

This video reminded me of the TMNT movie from 1990. The reporters voice and interviews were similar to the intro from the movie

[@TheDarylMack]

33 years later and nothing has changed 🤦🏾‍♂️

[@nathanbradshaw5517]

Alot has changed. The crime in the 80s was much more rampant. Did you not read they had over 16K felonies a year... Its less than half that now

[@thtbulumad7290]

@@nathanbradshaw5517 exactly people really forget about the late 80s and early 90s it was way worse than today. Most homicide tolls were in the hundreds or even thousands in major cities across America add the crack epidemic to that also and conditions were definitely worse back then

[@shaverse8626]

This is gross

[@calvinbealer7264]

Ms Gay Yee is a Cutie 🥰😊 Pie 🥧🥧

[@Frankieefootballmundial]

She not that cute

[@calvinbealer7264]

@@Frankieefootballmundial You must be Blind as Hell then San Juan Puerto.

[@guns4toilets]

She is one fine piece of...tail

[@thesheik9318]

That was in the '80s. If she's still alive she's old as s*** and you thirsty guys would still bang her.

[@javianjohnson8746]

Ahh yes, a crime report in NYC during the "Fear City era". I bet subway crime like this was happening every 45 mins

[@GeneralHawk505]

They are interviewing ACTUAL new yorkers. Not the hipsters and strictly interviewing in manhattan people all the time.

[@j.a.rrailworks9968]

I'm sorry but I can't stop laughing at her name @ 1:18...

[@dannybx78]

1989 was better than 2022 was.

[@METALFACEDOOMXXXX]

Lay off the crack

[@marcchevalier3750]

Wrong. Sloppy ugly hair, boxy fashion, etc. 1920s to 1940s AMERICA NYC will always be SUPERIOR than those eras you mentioned

[@METALFACEDOOMXXXX]

@@marcchevalier3750 Lay off the crack! 80's were the best you fucking coocoo clock!

[@abdjayyusi5915]

Have you seen the crime difference of 1989 and 2022????

[@somethinggrand144]

No

[@michaelallan7981]

Was this last night's news??? Ow wait, it's from 1989!

[@Wifistaxx]

NYC had over 2k homicides in 1989 😳

[@calvinbealer7264]

NYC at it's Best.

[@talesfromthehoodtv503]

I've been saying it for years we are heading back to the 80s,sure the numbers aren't as bad but just give it some time,things move in cycles,more cops on the stations means less cops in the streets,its a loose loose ,be safe everyone

[@thomaskwiatkowskiesq.328]

Reg Wells was such a strange looking dude, but I remember as I kid I used to watch channel 9 just to see this weirdness. Wonder if he is still with us?

[@johnlewis3891]

The 6 train looks the same at least from the outside as it looked back then.

[@alijordanx8954]

The 6 trains are old

[@aqua2poweros699]

It had r142as for a good 15 years until they were then transferred by the 7.

[@AlgonquinRider810]

They're using the same subways cars, difference is then they were only about 5 years old

[@Pickledsundae]

This story so GayYee

[@tenreyes]

The more things change, the more they stay the same 1989>2022

[@eandj9181]

It’s the same shit every cycle

[@JerzeyPrince23]

We need real subway vigilante to protect the riders from criminals.

[@prn718]

40 years later, the radios still don't work. Units going 75-T under without coverage. Every train stinks and has some nut job on it. Bye NYC. I know you'll go down and then come back up but I won't be alive for it.

[@gotmilk91]

Just like 2022!

[@dc9345]

History repeat again

[@Raven1180]

So nothing new under the sun as it is written. People act like what's going in NY is worst then we get a reminder of how it really was.

[@peterhee601]

Wow we have not come far from 1989 …. Rolls eyes

[@Tubman94]

Same trains and all

[@seviregis7441]

Same perps basically too...

[@itypethetruthnobshere8975]

The blacks been a menace

[@Ptah1130]

GAYEEE!!!

[@thefocalspotinc]

Oh wow! I remember Reg Wells! 💛

[@LonzCantiLife]

aint shit change

[@binkyboo1964]

Gay yee lol

[@crazygambler920]

Same people committing the crimes.. it’s time to evolve

[@gai_ninja]

The Grunge of the 90s is back 🤣😂

[@rtdugan04]

I had to look up last years stats on felonies. 2023 had 554, 2022- 539. When you think about our population being 1.5 MM more people, it changes my perception on how “bad” it really is.

[@MS-mn5uz]

43 years later..... same sh*t

[@massapower]

If these dummy carried phones for once stopped recording and actually helped the individual or GOD forbid call 911, it would be amazing ! 😎✌

[@arlinaaruto5734]

1989. I was 13 years old or going on 13 damn this is so long ago like serious I mean yes there was a lot of crimes on the subway but now that we live in 2024 crime is even higher than back in the 80s because it’s worse with crime every day there is a crime happening in New York, but even worse. but it’s like history repeating itself, but it’s terrible now in 2024 and I love these old TV reporting this is from when we all grew up in those days what time to grow up in those days

[@coreymerricksterling1699]

I see the subway crime pattern all the way from the 1980s to the 1990s and far worse now in the 2020s

[@robjackson5245]

UPN/Warner Bros./WB flagship FTW. The WB and Tribune sucked balls. And The WB was the lowest rated network along with CBS.

[@arlinaaruto5734]

Oh my goodness I remember all these reported when I was a kid damn I am this all in 2024 because I’m 47 now damn

[@henrysantos121]

Just trying to keep your eyes open.👁️🙏👁️. all the time God bls u all.🙏.

[@coreygigoux7342]

We need more Bernard Getts

[@IdaIda-ur8vx]

And 30 something years later - same thing. Is this what’s y’all call civilization and civilized people when you go to invade other countries?

[@monica012077]

And all the people complaining about crime on the subway. 16,000 felonies is a lot more than what we have in 2022. Lmao

[@StayOutTheMix]

We pay 2.75 to almost die by someone who jumps the turnstile 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@Johnny_Giraldo]

We need Batman 😂😂

[@dannybx78]

Or Godzilla. Even King Kong.

[@tsitracommunications2884]

I prefer superman

[@AmberSantana-is3dq]

I remember those red trains omg 😂 I used to love them just ride in between the cars and smoke cigarettes the air was chilly and I remember many times sleeping in them I been through hell here I am in 2024 newports used to flood those ads on the train here I am in 2024

[@KingNeutral1]

Anybody else google the names of those interviewed to see what they’re up to now?

[@aliciapope8190]

I just refuse to be a victim again on MTA so I told the judge the next time somebody attack me I guess I'll be going to jail again cuz I attack back I don't randomly attack people but anyone who attacks me I don't know who going to the hospital either one of us going to jail and somebody going to the hospital. I try not to be bothered by some of these people on the train I didn't talk some sense into a whole bunch of crazy people on the train after my situation but I also told them you might be scaring other people but you not scaring me I didn't live a life of being scared and I don't scare that easily. I just didn't want to be another Bernard who shot people who attacked him going to jail for attacking back it's sad how our system works

[@kimmyyuuuu1797]

Wow same same

[@poe-]

The usual suspects rhyme with the word trigger.

[@mattguy2998]

And thats exactly what ur mother is.

[@IngoPagels]

4000 officers reduced to 400 - no words...

[@rickyli5455]

Awe man I remember this Indian lookin dude. Katie Chong too.

[@traceygrant3386]

I was 18 living in the Bronx worked in Manhattan and went to city college in Manhattan. I had friends and family in Brooklyn Manhattan and queens I’ve never been afraid or had an issue riding the subways back then. I’ve never witnessed a crime. I knew there were crime I feel like the news was a little over exaggerating things. Because I would travel on the train all different times of the day and night. Back then I could sit in a park at night and didn’t have to worry about any gun fire I could sit on the steps of my building at night or day and no one would bother you. For me times was better back then. You didn’t have a whole lot of mentally I’ll walking the streets so freely.

[@devious100dd]

Just because you were fortunate to not experience a traumatic experience does not mean the dysfunction didn’t exist. Now as you say it is more visible cause liberal democrats don’t want dangerous mentally ill people in institutions, they don’t want criminals in prison. When Lee Zeldin pointed out that Hochul’s plan on crime didn’t mention incarceration, she responded in part “I don’t know why thats so important to you” a complete disregard of NewYorkers safety.

[@jjcruz4307]

@@devious100dd I lived through the 80s and remember how bad it was. It is starting to get that way again. But it was bad for many, many years before it was bad enough that people demanded change from their political leaders and held them accountable by voting them out. We’ll see what happens this election but I’m afraid we may not be there yet. It will get worse and worse before it gets better. I hope I’m wrong.

[@JD5256CK]

Nothing new nothing chances don’t know why everyone making such a big deal about this now “oh crime is at a top rate” stfu already u don’t like it move already damn

[@nicolasperez9137]

Same as today 2022,,,,,,,,

[@mysteriousjz]

The guy Reg Wells aka Raggie Harris has already passed away in 2000.

[@peacecrewproducts]

1982 to 1989 that is first wave of the crack cocaine epidemic.

[@essmhtvny165es]

I think this was from April 1989.

[@slapshot68]

Repeat history n vote Republican again!

[@Carlossantos-wg8rs]

Bring Back STOP AND FRISK!!!!

[@kwbaby4297]

FASTTTT

[@jennifer801]

I remember that. I used to take the train to work. Switched to the express bus. Then switched to driving instead.

[@__JASON__.]

How was the subway crime in the 90s ? 🤔 I'm very curious. Did it get any better compared to the 80s ?

[@johnlewis3891]

Crime decreased in the 90s, above and below ground.

[@SexyBeautifulBabe]

Yea it did .. the 90s is a when nyc was a republican city

[@stephenheath8465]

@@johnlewis3891 Once them Queens dudes murked that witness protection cop that was the begining to the clean up and Guliani came three years later

[@dannybx78]

Rudy Guiliani and Mike Bloomberg style, back to back.

[@thetruther9521]

Idk why . But for some reason the past 3 years I keep seeing the number 66 every where even in this video ..

[@Michael-qe3bk]

I miss the 80's and 90's

[@johnlewis3891]

Crime was much worse back then.

[@astroprotector]

Club scene was lit! I was at the Palladium, Limelite, Nelly's, Study 54. You name it! I was there!!

[@albihysenaj5997]

@@johnlewis3891 it’s not any better today

[@johnlewis3891]

@@albihysenaj5997 It's much better today. In the 80s, there wasn't a single year in which the city had less than 1,200 murders. By contrast the city had 386 murders.en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_New_York_City

[@carmelomillan8475]

Get the military involved criminal just want to play games so why not get them involved into it tax Fair money anyway

[@flyingeagle3750]

Keep legalizing drugs. Now a lot of people are insane, now what?

[@truthteller5521]

Urban community has always been a problem. How many more tax-funded programs do they need?

[@temporarybackup5077]

.

[@marysuckafreechic9006]

Nah that’s your community

[@bryanrock101]

nothing has change. MTA have this problem for decades and what did they do? Nothing. it's all blah blah blah.

[@DeeFromNYC]

& 2024 it's still bad

[@dannybx78]

As i add this second comment of mine, right here, the past returns in 2023. Either we do or we die. It's up to us N.Y. We only have two choices.

[@sct4040]

Dejavu

[@ГригорийБуров-м1ъ]

KZbin doesnt allow me to post the reporter's name

[@jtsy4239]

Yo the classic looks un real 1989

[@SEN0BRM]

Warriors... Come out and playyy