Metro

NYC subway suicide attempts spike 50% in first months of 2022

Suicide attempts on the subway spiked 50% in the first three months of the year compared to 2021, transit officials said Wednesday.

The first three months of 2022 saw 27 suicides or suicide attempts, out of 105 total instances of “track intrusion,” according to a report prepared by the MTA in response to a startling spike in trespassing at the end of last year.

Track intrusions spiked 20% in 2021, compared to the previous year and 2019, despite fewer riders. The number of incidents peaked this past winter, in November, December and January — which saw 160 total incidents, the highest single-month total since 2019, the report said.

Last month saw 100 track intrusions, in line with pre-pandemic figures.

Officials found that suicides account for just 4% of total trespassing incidents, but 25% of collisions and 35% of fatalities. Other causes of some 40 total track fatalities included two attempts to retrieve objects from the tracks, two slip-and-falls and the tragic intentional push by a deranged vagrant that killed Manhattanite Michelle Go in January.

A whopping one-in-five intruders observed so far this year were “experiencing mental illness,” the report said.

track intrusions
The MTA plans to test front-facing cameras on trains to reduce track intrusions. Matthew McDermott

“Most instances of track intrusion are done voluntarily by individuals who are not only putting their lives and the lives of transit workers in danger, but also disrupting travel for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers,” MTA CEO Janno Lieber said in a statement.

To tackle the problem, the MTA plans to expand public messaging and CCTV deployment in tunnels and to test front-facing cameras on trains to improve intruder detection.

Further down the line, the authority plans to test platform barriers and expand “laser intrusion detection” technology and the use of blue-colored lights that the report said “can have a calming effect and reduce the number of suicides in transit systems.”

Track intrusions
There were 100 track intrusions in the last month. Matthew McDermott

Transit workers dread coming into contact with people on the tracks.

“It’s like a quick shock heart attack whenever you see it,” one train operator told The Post earlier this week. “Countless homeless people and vagrants just like not where they are supposed to be on catwalks and stuff.

“Even if they aren’t in danger, it scares the s–t out of you and you gotta stop [the train] and it’s a whole thing.”

If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or are experiencing a mental health crisis and live in New York City, you can call 1-888-NYC-WELL for free and confidential crisis counseling.

If you live outside the five boroughs, you can dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org