This January was New York City’s safest on record. With a drop in the numbers of murders and shootings, the people of the city should feel secure; above ground, that is. There was one particular violent crime that dominated New York’s news headlines all month long: slashings.

A Bronx man allegedly slashed two women in the face with a bottle. One attack took place on December 31, and the other on January 6. He was arrested, but the slashings continued when a second New Yorker slashed a stranger’s face on January 16. On January 25, a woman from Brooklyn was slashed in the face while riding the subway. The very next day, two more slashings occurred within moving trains. On January 31, a fight in a Harlem subway station led to yet another face-slashing incident.

The attacks haven’t stopped. Since Tuesday, February 2, there have been three more incidents in three separate burroughs, making it hard to distinguish if these, or really any of the attacks, are related. As the attacks go on, they are stepping out of the subway and onto New York City’s streets. In the Brooklyn borough, an 18-year-old high school student was walking home from school when he was surrounded by four men that repeatedly punched him and then took a 2-3 inch knife to his face. In the Bronx, a 65-year-old businessman suffered slashes to his hand and face outside his business. Another man, 31 years of age, was slashed in the face during an attempted robbery just north of Central Park.

The apparently random acts of violence have led to increased police presence, especially on the subway platforms. There were three police officers alone roaming the Harlem station a few days after the fight and slashing took place there. While some see the increased police presence as a good thing, many wish they’d focus their efforts more on keeping the transit system safe than ticketing commuters. Others don’t fear the attacks as much, seeing as they’ve lived in New York City for most or all of their lives, knowing that there is always a constant threat of attackers and violence in an area such as the subway.

Incidents like these may not be scary to people like us in Nebraska, or even to some people living in the New York City area, but as long as the slashing aren’t stopped, they will get out of control. Will the NYPD be able to stop these “madmen”?