On a recent lunchtime subway commute, I changed cars to avoid a man who was verbally harassing his companion and ended up on a vehicle that smelled like a toilet. I then tweeted about the incident.
Nikole Hannah-Jones of The New York Times’ 1619 Project could not resist the impulse to challenge the argument I was making, namely that our present political leadership will not tackle the crime problem in our subways because it refuses to accept there is a criminal problem.
She replied to my tweet with her signature witticism: “Yes, yes. Before two years ago, this was never spoken on subways.
Big Apple authenticity
I have been familiar with New York City for almost two years. I moved here when I was eight years old and attended public schools in Queens as I grew up. I could not speak English on my first day of third grade. Five years later, in the 1980s, I took the SHSAT, was admitted to Bronx Science, and began traveling more than three hours every day on the same subways I talked about last week. One of my children is a high school graduate and the other is in middle school.
Almost as quickly as the crime rate, progressive media and the city’s predominately Democratic political leadership engage in gaslighting. As an Asian-American woman, I am acutely aware of how much less secure the subways have become over the past several years. I have decades of experience and refuse to be lectured about what I see with my own eyes.
Nikole Hannah-Jones disregarded Chu’s worries over the New York City subway system.
The answers to our two tweets sparked a flurry of comments, with mine describing a negative but commonplace train experience and Hannah-Jones’ dismissing my worries. The division lines are distinct. Numerous New Yorkers concur with me: They observe, experience, and despise the escalating criminality and anarchy in our subways.
Asian persuasion
Others, though, backed Hannah-Jones. They made fun of me and speculated that I was either a recent immigrant or a tourist. There is a frantic attempt to belittle New Yorkers who desire to live in a safer, cleaner, and more organized city – one that anyone over the age of five can genuinely recall.
Subway crime is a significant concern for transit travelers, particularly Asian-American commuters who do not feel safe or protected.
Stephen Yang
Recent elections in the state were a mixed bag. New York played a crucial part in the Republican takeover of the US House of Representatives, despite the re-election of Governor Hochul. And in New York City, where Democrats had a 7-to-1 registration lead, Representative Lee Zeldin won 13 Assembly seats, including 23 districts with a preponderance of Asian voters.
The 2022 election made one thing quite clear: Asian Americans would not vote for the party that claims there is no crime surge. The awakened liberal elite of our city will continue to claim that up is down, east is west, and the crime wave is not that awful, if the star columnist of New York City’s newspaper of record is any indicator.
Cannot gaslight someone
It is apparent that Asian Americans are abandoning the Democratic Party, but the forthcoming elections will reveal if we are pioneers. My train ride last week was filled with New Yorkers of all races, ages, and religions attempting to reach their destinations. You cannot deceive everyone. New Yorkers of all races desire and deserve a safer city, since everyone can see what is in front of them.
Yiatin Chu is the president of the Asian Wave Alliance and the co-founder of PLACE NYC.