Mayor Eric Adams admitted today that the subway shooting murder of a Goldman Sachs worker on Sunday is every New Yorker’s ‘worst nightmare’ – as he faces criticism for not cracking down on the city’s crime enough to find the man responsible for it.
Daniel Enriquez, 48, was riding the Q train from his home in Park Slope, Brooklyn, to Manhattan on Sunday morning when a gunman, believed to be Andrew Abdullah, opened fire as the train was crossing the Manhattan Bridge.
The assailant fled out of the subway station and remains at large. The subway has become so dangerous that many New Yorkers opt not to take it at all.
On Sunday, Enriquez had planned to take an Uber to brunch but prices were surging due to the extreme heat. He took the train because the journey cost double what it normally does – around $20 – something that New Yorkers are noticing more and more.
Adams was asked about the shooting at a press conference on Monday afternoon and admitted that it was ‘every New Yorker’s worst nightmare’.
Eric Adams at one of two press conferences on Monday where he addressed Sunday’s shooting. He apologized to Enriquez’s family and said he knows it is his duty to protect the city
Enriquez was heading from his home in Park Slope, Brooklyn over the Manhattan Bridge when the gunman opened fire without warning at about 11:42 am
‘It is their worst nightmare. I use the subway a lot. I’m in the system a lot and it’s unimaginable.’
‘You’re sitting down, going to brunch, going to visit a family member, a person walks up to you and shoots you for no reason. Not a dispute — which is horrific to do it when [there is] a dispute — but that is the worst nightmare,’ he said.
Adams said it was ‘his responsibility’ to find the killer and attempted to drown out critics as ‘well-oiled Twitter users’.
He said they are ‘attacking everything we do to keep the city safe’ and called it ‘noise’.
He has vowed to place high tech gun-detecting machines in subway stations, but he has not indicated when he plans to do it.
This is the unidentified suspect who is believed to have shot dead Daniel Enriquez on the subway on Sunday at 11.42am
Tape and blood are streaked across the staircase down to the subway on Sunday afternoon following the attack
Police are still searching for the gunman after he fled the Canal Street station in Lower Manhattan Sunday morning
He apologized to Enriquez’s family, saying: ‘It is my responsibility to keep New Yorkers safe. My heart goes out to that family, I am sorry that they lost their loved one.
‘We have to continue to make sure that we’re not losing our loved ones. I understand their pain, and I have to make sure the city is safe, and I want that obligation.’
Enriquez’s partner Adam Pollack told DailyMail.com earlier that he only took the subway on Sunday because Uber was so expensive.
He said prices had surged when his partner was leaving and were double the cost they normally are.
The three-mile journey from the couple’s home in Park Slope normally only takes 20 minutes and costs $20, but on Sunday it was $40 each way.
Enriquez planned to take the subway to Williamsburg then take an Uber home, but he was shot and killed before he even made it into Manhattan to change trains.
While he remains on-the-run and while the victim’s family grieves, Mayor Eric Adams is said to be considering a presidential campaign after less than six months into his job.
Critics have slammed the Democrat for not focusing on the issues in his own city before raising his ambitions towards the White House.
‘Someone alert @NYCMayor that before he runs for President he needs to fix a few things in NYC,’ FOX Business’s Charles Gasparino tweeted.
The shooting on Sunday occurred in broad daylight at 11:42 a.m. before the shooter fled from Canal Street station and remains on the run.
Griselda Vile, Enriquez’ sister, spoke on Sunday night about the pain her family was suffering as a result of the attack.
Goldman CEO David Solomon said in a statement that the firm was ‘devastated’ by the man’s death. He had worked there for nine years.
‘Daniel Enriquez was a dedicated and beloved member of the Goldman Sachs family for nine years.
Mayor Eric Adams with his partner Tracey Collins at the Met Gala on May 2nd. He wore an anti-gun crime outfit
‘He worked diligently to support our Macro Research team in New York and epitomized our culture of collaboration and excellence.
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‘We are devastated by this senseless tragedy and our deepest sympathies are with Dan’s family at this difficult time.’
Enriquez’ sister told The New York Post earlier on Monday: ‘No one, no one, no one should have this happen to their family.’
Vile also attacked New York City’s recently implemented bail reform laws, saying, ‘the worst part is, even if they catch this person he’s going to be out again.’
Vile then took aim at Mayor Adams – an ex-cop who was elected on a promise to stop crime in the city – and NYPD Chief Keechant Sewell.
‘I wish you guys would go back to Mayor Adams and tell him the city is not safe,’ she told a reporter for the Post.
‘My brother just became a statistic on the way to the city. He was shot at close range.’
Her husband Glenn put it a little more simply: ‘Do your job. Get crime off the streets.’
Vile said that he should be making the city safer so that more people don’t have to go through what they’re going through.
‘I want every New Yorker to realize this could be your reality tomorrow – your worst nightmare could come true,’ she said.
‘I don’t want this to be an attack on the mayor. I want him to focus on New York as a community.’
She also called on New York City to have more of a sense of community itself.
Devastating: Enriquez worked for Goldman Sachs for nine years. The company’s CEO David Solomon said his death was ‘senseless’
‘We’re five boroughs we try to look out for each other. We don’t feel safe.
‘I don’t feel comfortable having my daughter take the train and now I have more reason to feel more scared.
‘Now everyone who knows my brother is gonna be more scared,’ Vile said.
While murders and shootings are down 11 and three percent from the already crime-riddled 2021 under lame duck Mayor Bill de Blasio, overall crime in the Big Apple is up 40 percent so far in 2022.
That includes a 19 percent rise in felony assaults, a 12 percent increase in rapes and a 42 percent jump in robberies.
Transit is up the highest at 62 percent as well – and the the recent rise in subway crime has set New Yorkers on edge.
Officers crowd on the staircase down to the subway as the station was closed off after the shooting
NYPD investigated the scene after Enriquez was shot and killed aboard a subway train in Lower Manhattan Sunday in what police are calling a random attack
Frank James, pictured, has been charged with a federal terrorism offense over claims he opened fire on a packed subway train in Brooklyn in April, shooting 10 and injuring 23
Sunday’s shooting comes just over a month since a gunman shot up another subway train, an attack that wounded 10 people.
Frank James, 62, pleaded not guilty to terrorism and other charges last week.
He is facing charges of committing a terrorist attack or other violence against a mass transportation system and discharging a firearm during a violent crime. Both counts carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
James was arrested April 13, about 30 hours after authorities say he drove from Philadelphia and unleashed smoke bombs and dozens of bullets in a train full of morning commuters as it approached a Brooklyn station.
The shooting victims ranged in age from 16 to 60; all survived.
Authorities said James’ bank card, cellphone and a key to a van he had rented were found at the shooting scene. Police also said they found the 9mm Glock semiautomatic handgun used in the shooting and traced it to James.
Defense attorney Mia Eisner-Grynberg had cautioned at at the time of James’ arrest not to rush to judgment and noted that James alerted police to his whereabouts. He was arrested in Manhattan’s East Village after he called a tip line saying he was at a fast food restaurant in that section of the city.
A motive for the attack is unclear. In numerous rants he posted on YouTube, James, who is Black, made bigoted remarks about people of various backgrounds and railed against New York Mayor Eric Adams and complained about mental health care he received in the city years ago.
James, who’s being held without bail, is due back in court July 25.
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