OAN’s James Meyers
9:43 AM -Wednesday, March 6, 2024
New York Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul has announced that nearly 1,000 New York National Guardsmen, state police, and Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) cops are being deployed to carry out bag checks in New York City’s subway system.
The reinforcements will work alongside the New York Police Department (NYPD) to help patrol “the city’s busiest transit stations” amid an increase in underground crime, according to Hochul (D-N.Y.).
“These brazen heinous attacks on our subway system will not be tolerated,” Hochul said as she announced a five-point plan to crackdown on the city’s burgeoning underground crime wave.
“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,” Hochul said. “They shouldn’t worry about whether someone’s going to brandish a knife or gun. That’s what we’re going to do with these checkpoints.”
NYC Mayor Eric Adams and Hochul’s crackdown means that subway riders will soon have to go through “random” bag checks. The governor is currently working with the mayor to help stop the onslaught of attacks.
Adams noted that 38 people were arrested for 1,126 attacks on MTA workers in 2023, while 542 people were arrested last year for over 7,600 shoplifting crimes. Additionally, Hochul said that she will soon introduce a new law that bans anyone from riding the subway or bus system who has ever been convicted of a violent transit assault.
“Basically, if you assault someone on the subways, you won’t be on the subways,” Hochul said.
“We know who they are,” Hochul said of the repeat offenders. “They’ll flag the criminal history at the time of arrest so it can be fully considered when decisions regarding charging and bail are made.”
As part of the new plan, the MTA will install new surveillance cameras to help protect transit staff and CCTV cameras are expected to be installed in every train car by the end of 2024.
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