Following a series of violent incidents in the New York City subway system, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a new five-point safety plan that includes bringing in hundreds of National Guard troops and adding new security cameras.
Hochul announced that a combined 1,000 personnel — including 750 National Guard troops, along with MTA Police — would be deployed in the subway system to help the NYPD conduct bag checks in an effort to keep weapons off trains.
“Let me just be very, very clear. These brazen, heinous attacks on our subway system will not be tolerated,” Hochul said Wednesday.
This followed Mayor Eric Adams’ announcement Tuesday to add more police officers and re-institute bag checks.
“I know how it plays on your psyche when you hear about some random acts of violence and that’s why we must be proactive,” Adams told CBS New York in an interview earlier Wednesday ahead of Hochul’s announcement.
The governor and mayor both argued the new safety plan will protect both passengers and transit workers. However, within an hour of the its announcement, another subway conductor was attacked. The conductor was struck on the head with a bottle at the East 170th/Jerome Avenue station in the Bronx, the NYPD said.
In Wednesday’s interview with CBS New York, both the mayor, who was noticeably absent during the governor’s announcement, and NYPD Transit Chief Michael Kemper, defended the bag checks as an important safety tool.
“We are instituting random bag checks,” Adams said. “They are random. They are not profiling. They are random.”
“Including with what they’re doing checking bags to make sure explosive or illegal weapons are not entering our subway system, it’s also creating another sense of presence,” said Kemper.
