It’s 7am on the F train uptown, and just before the tracks dip underground the grey morning light shines in on the carriage. Workers dressed in scrubs, suits and paint-stained overalls are heading to work. A medical student is revising the recommended treatment for mucormycosis; opposite him two construction workers nap with their caps shielding their eyes from the overhead glare.
The New York City subway is the great leveller in a city where rich and poor live divided, washing three million riders through 472 stations and 6,500 train cars 24 hours of every single day.
But in recent months a series of brutal, high-profile incidents on the network has unnerved New Yorkers. In response, the mayor, Eric Adams — a former policeman who ran
