The Issue: Mayor Adams’ talk of a “perception of fear” on the subways after a rise in crime.

Less than a month into his term, Mayor Adams has been given the unfortunate opportunity to take a strong and definitive stand on two of the city’s most pressing issues (“The fear is rail,” Jan. 17).

With the horrific murder of Michelle Alyssa Go, he has the chance to demonstrate exactly how he will address both violent crime and homelessness.

Will he be the “law and order” mayor that he has promised to be? Or is that just the “perception” that he would like us to have?

For the sake of the city and the memory of Go, I hope it’s the former and not the latter.

Joe Schulok

The Bronx

Adams, an educated man, initially failed to recognize the importance of perception and its consequences.

After the death of a woman pushed in front of a train, he said the subways were safe. He subsequently reversed that when people viewed it as tone-deaf.

Although he just began his term in office, I am skeptical about his judgment.

Phil Serpico

Queens

You can’t have it both ways, Mr. Mayor. You ran for office as a law-and-order candidate with a mandate to reduce violent crime in New York, which notably includes its mass-transit system.

The NYPD has repeatedly reported that crime in this city has soared over the past two years, fueled by frustration with the pandemic, the enactment of so-called “bail reform” laws and the previous mayor’s hostility toward police officers.

Talking tough on crime while telling New Yorkers that their fears are a figment of their imaginations is unacceptable.

Mark Stuart Ellison

Brooklyn

Listening to Adams and his comments regarding “perception,” I am struck by the parallels to Mayor Larry Vaughan in the movie “Jaws.”

To keep allowing deadly predators to jump turnstiles and prey on innocent riders is no different than allowing people to swim in dangerous waters. As the flick’s Chief Brody says: “We don’t have to serve the people up as smorgasbord.”

John Reilly

Manhattan

The Post’s no-nonsense “Genuinely afraid, Mr. Mayor” (Editorial, Jan. 17) should resonate with the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who use the subway on a regular basis.

Adams should be admonished for callously talking about the “perception of crime” in the wake of Michelle Go’s horrific murder at the hands of a deranged homeless man. The mayor is off to a really bad start.

I supported Adams’ candidacy based on his strongly stated positions of fighting crime and solving the ongoing homeless problem.

So far, I hear a lot of talk from Adams but see little action. The city’s epidemic of crime and homelessness should be the mayor’s focus, not burnishing his celebrity image.

Gerard Rosenthal

Manhattan

As a long time resident and frequent subway rider, I don’t fear I will be physically assaulted on the subway, aside from by the smell. But I genuinely feel much less safe than I did two years ago.

I’m much more conscious of who’s around me and much more on my guard for sudden violence.

Is this just my perception? Maybe. But perceptions count. Especially if we want people who are less used to the city and subway to return.

Fear keeps businesses remote, the restaurants empty, Broadway and museums quiet and tax revenue low. Perception is reality.

Gerhardie Williams

Manhattan

Mr. Mayor, is it just a perception that Michelle Go was violently killed? Is it a perception that now another family has to mourn a family member?

There was a perception that, somehow, Adams would be different than the previous mayor and restore some order to New York. Well, the reality is that perception was wrong.

JJ Levine

Miami Beach, Fla.

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