NEW YORK (PIX11) — With more people riding on New York City subways, the city is showing great signs of recovery. However, it comes amid a rise in violent crimes in the transit system. At least 17 incidents were reported in the last week, with two reports on Monday alone, police said.

The first incident occurred around 6 p.m. on the southbound C train in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, police said. A 23-year-old man was stabbed in the left upper back. He took himself to the hospital for treatment according to police.

Less than two hours later, a 25-year-old man was slashed in the face while at the northbound platform at 135th Street on the Nos. 2 and 3 line, police said. The victim was intoxicated and possibly homeless, according to police sources. 

Amid the rise in attacks, more cops have been added to the transit system, patrolling underground. Another 250 NYPD officers were assigned on a special deployment in addition to the other 3,000 cops previously deployed to subways, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday. 

This new surge of cops will make the current total NYPD transit deployment the largest in over 20 years.

Before the pandemic, the MTA said ridership was at 5.4 million a day. During the pandemic it went as low as 300,000 daily, and it is currently at about 2.2 million.