A man has reportedly exposed himself to women while riding the subway approximately eight times since February, with six of the incidents happening in July, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) said Saturday.

The recent incidents happened Friday during rush hour when he allegedly exposed himself and masturbated while sitting beside a 28-year-old woman on an R train in Midtown, police said, according to the New York Post.

The outlet continued:

He got off the train around 9 a.m. at the Fifth Avenue/59th Street station — where he groped a 41-year-old woman’s behind as she walked up the stairs, according to police. The prior night, the wacko exposed himself to a 22-year-old woman on an M-train platform in Ridgewood, Queens, and fondled himself. The suspect has pulled similar sick stunts on five other occasions this year in Manhattan and Queens, including three times on July 3 inside the Lexington Avenue-63rd Street station elevator, police said.

“On 5 separate incidents since February this individual has exposed himself to subway riders and began to masturbate,” the NYPD said in a social media post on July 9:

Meanwhile, ABC 7 reported on June 23 that as more people rode the subways, MTA staffing shortages grew. However, the outlet said crime had apparently gone down.

“We have seen a downward trend which is great, but it is not sufficient to, to make us take our foot off the pedal, we realize that we have got to get to a point where our customers feel comfortable in our system,” MTA Chief Safety Officer Pat Warren stated.

During the MTA’s monthly board meeting, Interim Transit President Sarah Feinberg said, “Those significant increase in police presence, I think, has played a real impact [sic].”
“And, you know, the uptick in ridership helps a bit, too. But the numbers seem to be based, for now at least, on the increase in policing,” she noted.

MTA Chairman Patrick Foye expressed his gratitude for the additional resources and said officials continued to monitor the situation, adding, “Clearly there’s a need for additional social services and mental health services.”