Policy

A timeline of Hochul and Adams’ fight for more cops on the subway

New York’s top leaders continue to tag-team to fight subway crime, redoubling an effort to build omnipresence in the system.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul joined to to make a subway safety-related announcement Saturday.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul joined to to make a subway safety-related announcement Saturday. Diane Bondareff/Mayoral Photo Office

Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams are teaming up once again to support an increased police presence in the city’s subway system, amid ongoing concerns about crime on trains and in stations, including nine homicides this year. 

Back in January, the newly minted mayor and still somewhat fresh governor announced a multipronged plan to address homelessness on the subway that included increasing cops’ presence in the transit system as well as mental health outreach teams. Since then, Hochul and Adams have doubled down on creating police omnipresence in the subways. “Expanding law enforcement is just one side of it, but also we want to have a more significant presence, visible presence. People want to see that there's an officer there when they need help,” Hochul said on Saturday, announcing the latest reinforcement of officers in the transit system. “It's an incredible deterrent when you think about it.”

Here’s a look back at major actions the pair have taken in an attempt to tackle crime in the subway over the past year.

August 2021

On the day that Hochul was sworn in as governor following former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s resignation, New York City subway ridership stood at roughly 47% of pre-pandemic levels. One year later, that figure grew to roughly 58%. That number is still slowly climbing, hitting a pandemic high of roughly 61% for the month of September. 

Reported crimes in the transit system also hit a modern low in 2021, according to statistics from the New York City Police Department – though per capita crime was up, since ridership was so low. The number of crimes has risen in 2022, so far, as ridership has grown, but it’s still below the pre-pandemic average, despite some high profile crimes putting many riders on edge. 

January 2022

Just a few days into his tenure, Adams appeared with Hochul to announce that the NYPD would be increasing its presence and visibility on trains and in subway stations, including “hundreds” of additional visual inspections on trains and platforms everyday. The focus on omnipresence resulted in roughly 3,500 cops assigned to patrol the subway system – reportedly, the largest deployment in the Transit Bureau’s history. On Saturday, Adams said that since this January announcement, over 75,000 summonses have been issued and 5,500 arrests made for crimes on the subway.

The plan also involved deploying new mental health outreach teams known as “Safe Options Support” (SOS) teams, consisting of medical professionals and social workers. The teams have helped to connect 150 individuals experiencing homelessness on the subway to bed placements, Gotham Gazette reported last week.

Roughly a week after Hochul and Adams’ joint announcement in early January, Michelle Go, a 40-year-old woman, was killed after being pushed onto the subway tracks, renewing fears about violent crime in the system.

April 2022

On April 12, New York City was rocked by a mass shooting in the subway during the morning rush, which injured 29 people but did not result in any deaths. The search for the alleged shooter, who has since been identified and charged, was held up by the fact that cameras at the Brooklyn station where the shooter opened fire inside a subway car failed.

In response to the shooting, Adams said that his administration was exploring new technologies to tackle gun violence, including considering deploying gun detection systems in the subway. One company that the administration has been in talks with is Evolv Technology, which has piloted its detection system at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx. Despite concerns about the effectiveness and accuracy of these systems, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks has met with leaders at Evolv several times, as well as a couple other companies offering similar technology, The City reported. They have not yet been deployed in any train stations.

September 2022

Hochul announced last month that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will install two cameras on every subway car in the system over the next three years, following a pilot in June that deployed surveillance cameras on a hundred cars. Installing new cameras on cars – plus additional cameras in subway stations, where surveillance cameras already exist – will cost $5.5 million, and is part of Hochul’s three-pronged “Cops, Cameras, and Care” strategy of cracking down on subway crime. “You think Big Brother is watching you on the subways, you’re absolutely right,” Hochul said at the time. “We are going to be having surveillance of activities on the subway trains and that is going to give people great peace of mind. If you’re concerned about this, the best answer is don’t commit any crimes on the subways.”

October 2022

On Saturday, Hochul and Adams appeared together at Grand Central Terminal to announce a new surge in police presence on the subway. The state will help fund an additional 1,200 overtime officer shifts every day. Hochul is also directing MTA police to patrol stations linked to Grand Central and other major commuter hubs, freeing up more NYPD officers to patrol stations across the rest of the city. And Hochul said the state will fund 50 more beds for inpatient care for the severely mentally ill – giving people in crisis another option instead of riding the subway.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.