At Least They Didn’t Shoot Them

A group of five Sikh tourists deemed suspicious by a bus driver were escorted off the double-decker tour bus they were sightseeing in and forced to kneel handcuffed on Broadway while police determined they were, in fact, just tourists:

The five British tourists left town yesterday to continue their U.S. trip, and one said the Sunday incident didn’t spoil their time in the city.

“These things happen, don’t they?” said the man, who gave his name as Jas, 39. “We have no hard feelings. It certainly made our trip different, but didn’t ruin it at all.”

The tourists were all members of the Sikh religion who grew up together in Birmingham, England. Jas said he planned to return to New York in December to celebrate his 40th birthday. “I’m definitely coming back,” he said.

Meanwhile — surprise, surprise — crime on the subway has gone down since police have begun randomly searching riders’ bags:

Subway crime has plummeted 23% so far this month, compared with same time period last year, officials said yesterday. That’s helped bring the year-to-date felony increase, which was 18% at the end of March, down to about 2%. The NYPD has flooded the subways since the July 7 transit blasts in London, and began random bag searches last week.

“The criminals are staying away,” MTA board member Barry Feinstein said after a Metropolitan Transportation Authority committee meeting. “They are in more danger than they ever were of being caught and being prosecuted.”

Bonus: Sikh Terrorism fact sheet