Nearly 1,000 New York National Guardsmen, state police, and MTA cops are being deployed to carry out bag checks in the Big Apple’s crime-ridden subway system, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday.
The military build-up is part of Hochul’s five-point plan to crack down on the city’s burgeoning underground crime wave.
Even though New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) has been asking for help in dealing with the out-of-control numbers of illegal aliens, he was not present.
The additional forces — made up of 750 guardsmen and 250 law enforcement officers — will work alongside the NYPD to patrol “the city’s busiest transit stations” amid a recent surge in underground violence, Hochul said.
“These brazen, heinous attacks on our subway system will not be tolerated,” Hochul said Wednesday. “No one heading to their job or to visit family or go to a doctor appointment should worry that the person sitting next to them possesses a deadly weapon.”
The liberal politician’s plan includes deploying state law enforcement to the Big Apple subway network. In addition “teams of mental health workers,” to “help commuters and visitors to the city feel safe,” according to the New York Times.
The Times reports:
Additional law enforcement officers would add to an already large presence in the subways, where Mayor Eric Adams ordered an additional 1,000 officers in February following a 45 percent spike in major crimes in January compared with the same time last year.
Grand larcenies — thefts without the use of force — were a main driver of the January spike in crime, according to the police. Grand larcenies are defined by the police as major crimes, along with homicides, assaults and robberies.
“Subway crime rates surged in the first two months of this year — spiking by nearly 20% compared to this time last year, NYPD stats show. This year alone, three New Yorkers have been shot dead on trains and subway platforms,” the New York Post reported.
“In addition to the patrol boost, Hochul said she will introduce a new law that allows judges to ban anyone who has been convicted of a violent transit assault from riding the Big Apple’s subway or bus system,” the Post wrote.
Hochul did not get into details about how this part of her “plan” would be enforced — especially given the skyrocketing rates of turnstile hoppers, which cost the subway system $690 million in unpaid fares in 2022 — other than installing cameras in conductors’ booths and having the NYPD and district attorneys “create a new early warning system” for subway recidivists.
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