There are many New Yorkers who do not hide their fear of traveling on the New York subway, partly encouraged by the media’s amplification of reports of events.
The wave of serious crimes in the New York subway system, with deaths, injuries and a greater presence of guns, was already palpable lately with the proliferation of local police officers assigned to search travelers’ backpacks.
Governor Katy Hochul did not think it was enough to stop crime and this Wednesday she ordered the deployment of state police and national guard soldiers. They will patrol the platforms and help randomly check the bags carried by citizens.
Hochul stressed that this tactic of militarization will help regular users and visitors feel safer in the facilities of a transport that more than four million people use daily, although, perhaps due to its bad publicity, the number continues. well below the ceiling of the pre-pandemic period.
About a thousand uniformed personnel, of which 750 are military, will be added to the usual force, with special emphasis on the most frequented stations.
Crime on the subway has shot up 45% in January, compared to last year. Mayor Eric Adams assigned a thousand more uniformed personnel to this surveillance in February.
“These atrocious and brazen attacks on the subway will not be tolerated,” Hochul said. “No one going to work, or visiting family, or going to a doctor’s appointment should worry that the person sitting next to them is carrying a gun,” he stressed.
