In a move to combat crime on platforms and trains, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is deploying 1,000 members of the State Police and National Guard to the New York City transit system.
Hochul said Wednesday the National Guard soldiers and State Police officers will patrol platforms and help check bags.
Hochul said a large show of force in the system, which is operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, a state agency, would help commuters and visitors to the city feel safe.
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, the New York Times reports.
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.
There have also been violent attacks on the subways and platforms, NBC reports.
This past Sunday, a 64-year-old man was checking his phone when he was kicked into the tracks at Penn Station before good Samaritans helped get him out of harm's way.
A 27-year-old man on Friday was slashed aboard a northbound A train in Manhattan after the perpetrator allegedly made homophobic comments at him.
And on Thursday, Feb. 29, a subway conductor was slashed in the neck in Brooklyn, when he stuck his head out of a southbound C train at Rockaway Avenue station in Brooklyn.
“These brazen heinous attacks on our subway system will not be tolerated,” Hochul said during a news conference on Wednesday, referring to such high-profile assaults.
