The Guardian Angels patrol group begins patrolling the New York City Subway due to increased crime

In response to the recent wave of violent crime in the New York subway, The Guardian Angels, the citizen patrol group, decided to resume its operations in the city's train cars and stations.

The announcement was made by founder Curtis Sliwa at the same Brooklyn station where a woman was killed in an arson attack last week. Sliwa assured that the team will increase its operations to levels not seen since its inception in 1979:

"We are facing a crisis like the one we faced more than four decades ago (...) We need to expand, train and ensure a presence that inspires safety for New Yorkers. We did it before, and we will do it again."

The murder, which involved a Guatemalan illegal immigrant identified as Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, generated shock and concern among subway riders, as well as calls for beefed-up security. Sliwa assured that the group has received hundreds of requests from concerned citizens demanding immediate action.

Lack of police presence

The Guardian Angels' plan includes not only policing the subway, but also conducting welfare checks on homeless and emotionally troubled people, providing water to those in need and reporting dangerous situations to the police. "We will make sure we walk through every carriage, from start to finish, to make sure everything is in order," explained Sliwa.

The group, which currently has 150 active members in the city, will begin operations at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station. It plans to expand rapidly, as it did in its early years. In 1979, the group grew from 13 to 1,000 members in one year, something Sliwa hopes to replicate in the face of the current surge in violent crime on the subway.

Sliwa also criticized the absence of law enforcement in the transport system. "The subway is out of control. It has never been as bad as it is now."