Speaking to a roomful of reporters on Tuesday, Adams confessed that he had trepidations about riding the subway – making his comments just three days after the death of Michelle Go, an Asian American woman who was pushed into the path of a train and killed by a homeless black man.

For months, Adams spoke about public safety and New Yorkers’ perceptions about the safety of the subway. However, his admission on Tuesday was the first time he ever publicly stated that he shared the fears of other New Yorkers.

“Day One, January 1, when I took the train, I saw the homelessness, the yelling, the screaming early in the morning, crimes right outside the platform,” said Adams, according to a New York Daily News report. “We know we have a job to do — and we’re going to do both. We’re going to drive down crime, and we’re going to make sure New Yorkers feel safe in our subway system. And they don’t feel that way now. I don’t feel that way when I take the train every day, or when I’m moving throughout our transportation system.”

Adams’ remarks are a stark contrast to his previous statements following his inauguration into the mayoral office, when he vowed to bring “swagger” back to New York City.

“When the mayor has swagger, the city has swagger,” he stated at the time. “We’ve allowed people to beat us down so much that all we did was wallow in COVID.”

As previously reported by The Post Millennial, Adams insisted that the city was safe. In a speech on Sunday, the mayor appeared to downplay Michelle Go’s murder and stated that only 1.7 percent of the crimes in the city occurred on the subway.