NEW YORK (PIX11)— The Guardian Angels are resuming patrols on NYC subway cars, a spokesperson announced Saturday.
The announcement comes after a woman was fatally set ablaze on a Brooklyn F train . The group stated after the incident, ‘hundreds of citizens’ requested their return to subway cars.
The Guardian Angels have been a fixture in New York since 1979 when founding member Curtis Sliwa founded them to patrol the streets and subways during the city’s high-crime days. In the decades since then, the group has drawn criticism, with allegations that it unfairly targets people of color.
On Sunday, a spokesperson for the group said they would host a conference to outline a new patrol strategy involving a three-person team walking up and down the subway, moving subway cars in transit.
Patrols will focus on:
- Conducting wellness checks on homeless and emotionally disturbed individuals
- Providing water to homeless and emotionally disturbed individuals who may be dehydrated
- Reporting any issues with running trains to the NYPD