Diane Savino Bill Takes On ‘Subway Grinders’

Senator Diane Savino is cracking down on sleezy straphangers.

The senator passed her “subway grinder” bill today which creates a felony charge for anyone who sexually assault commuters on public transportation.

“The disturbing trend where perverts grind and grope straphangers on crowded subways, buses and ferries needs to end,” said Savino. “Even more distressing is that these perverts get off without any jail time, which is why a serious felony charge with the possibility of a prison sentence is necessary. No woman or straphanger should experience the humiliation of sexual assault while commuting and today we sent a message that we will punish criminals appropriately.”

Last week a Staten Island Ferry groper allegedly accosted a female passenger at the St. George Ferry Terminal. The man was arrested not long after allegedly touching his victim’s breasts last Thursday at 1am. He faces forcible touching and other misdemeanor charges.

In 2012, a serial subway grinder masturbated on three subway riders, but felony charges were dropped when the Court of Appeals decided that felony charges can only apply if the victims could prove that they felt threatened. The perpetrator only wound up with a misdemeanor sex abuse charge that carried a maximum three month sentence.

Savino’s bill — introduced in 2012 by the senator, Assemblyman Michael Cusick, and then-Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, and passed today — raises the penalty for criminals who prey on passengers of public transportation for their own sexual gratification to a class D felony. The offense could carry a sentence maximum sentence of seven years, depending on prior criminal history. The bill awaits passage by the Assembly.