The Guardian Angels are resuming their patrols of the Big Apple’s subways as if it were crime-riddled Gotham in 1979, after the horrifying arson murder of a sleeping straphanger on a train last week, founder Curtis Sliwa said Sunday.
The red-beret-wearing volunteer vigilante squad is beefing up its ranks to its level 45 years ago, Sliwa said.
“We’re going to have to increase our numbers, increase the training and increase our presence as we did back in 1979,” Sliwa said at the Stillwell Avenue-Coney Island station in Brooklyn where the woman was killed.
“We went from 13 to 1,000 [members] back then within a period of a year,” he said. “Because the need was there. The need is here now once again. We’re going to step up. We’re going to make sure we have a visual presence just like we had in the ’70s, 80’s and ’90s.”
Ever since last week’s shocking slaying, “hundreds of citizens” have requested the Guardian Angels return to patrol the subway cars, Sliwa claimed.
“We’re covering the actual trains from front to back, walking through the trains and making sure that everything is okay,” he told The Post on Sunday. “We’re doing this constantly now. Starting today. that’s going to be our complete focus because the subways are out of control.”
The group’s latest strategy will focus on conducting wellness checks on homeless people and emotionally disturbed individuals, he said.
The Guardian Angels will also provide water to homeless people and report any issues they come across to the NYPD, the group said.
Members of the organization last patrolled subway trains in 2020 after targeted attacks on members of the Asian community during COVID-19.
The group’s current 150 New York City members will start their patrols on trains at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station.
Last week’s arson victim, a woman who has still not been identified, was lit on fire while she slept on an F train that had pulled into the station, which is at the end of the line. Cops later arrested illegal Guatemalan migrant Sebastian Zapeta-Calil for allegedly starting the fire.
Authorities said the heinous crime appeared to be completely unprovoked.
“There’s so many trains that come in and out of here,” Sliwa said. “It’s the perfect place because it reminds people that nobody did anything a week ago. Nobody intervened. Nobody pointed to the cops and said ‘This is the guy.’ Even the cops didn’t do anything.”
Sliwa said he hopes the group’s presence on the train will encourage people to not be bystanders.
“It was an example of people just not getting involved,” he said. “And we’re here to say, ‘You see something, you say something.’ You gotta do something.”
Part of the issue, according to Sliwa, is the lack of cops actively patrolling the trains to help people.
“We’re now back to where we were when I started the group in 1979 on the subways. It’s gone full circle. I’ve never seen it this bad. Never,” Sliwa said.
But a rep for Mayor Eric Adams chided Sliwa for his “meaningless stunts” and said Hizzoner “remains focused on real solutions.
“Mayor Adams is committed to improving the lives of New Yorkers, which is why he frequently rides the subway to speak directly with everyday riders about how we can make it safer,” said City Hall representative Kayla Mamalek in a statement.
“The mayor surged 1,000 police officers per day into the subways, has brought down overall crime and transit crime, delivering real action — not theatrics — but he knows there’s still more work to be done,” Mamalek said.
Sliwa, 70, was flipping burgers as a night manager at a McDonald’s restaurant in The Bronx in 1979 when he decided to start the Angels, sickened by runaway subway violence.
He originally had just 13 volunteers.
The idea took off, and in its heyday grew to thousands of members with outposts dotted around the globe.
In recent years, some of the luster has worn off, but the Angels still make periodic public appearances, primarily standing alongside Sliwa at attention-grabbing announcements following high-profile crimes.
For example, when the 90-year-old owner of Manhattan’s iconic Ray’s Candy Store was pummeled outside his shop, the Angels lined up outside and promised to patrol the landmark confectioner.
Sliwa and the Angels have made several similar proclamations about returning to the subways in the past and have also on occasion been accused of embellishing encounters with bad guys.
But the group, with their trademark red berets and red jackets, remain recognizable in the five boroughs and are generally well-received by average New Yorkers — including after their latest crime-busting promise.
“It won’t get fixed overnight, but, yeah, it sounds good,” an MTA worker told The Post on Sunday of the Angels’ vow. “I think it’ll help. I don’t think the cops downstairs are going to like it, but yeah. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there are no cops up here.”
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