NEW YORK, NY— As Christmas, and New Year's Eve approach New York Governor Kathy Hochul has announced she will be deploying an additional 250 New York National Guard Troops to patrol the mass-transit system, bringing the operational total to 1,000 soldiers as a show of force to bolster the NYPD. The National Guardsmen are to be posted at entrances to the subway system throughout the city. The New York Democrat also announced that the city’s MTA subway cars are now equipped with surveillance cameras in every car, ahead of schedule.
As reported by ABC7, Hochul and MTA Chairman Janno Lieber are insistent that the authorities are making progress and that overall crime is down despite murders in the subway being up 200%, felony assaults jumping up 55% and burglaries spiking up by 140% over 2019 figures.
"This is not a response to a specific crime. We're not seeing a trend that's alarming, but it's about continuing a strategy that has proven its success and expanding it to protect even more people," Hochul told reporters.
Lieber explained, “There's nothing you heard from me or the governor-not just today, but ever-that suggests that we think that crime is not a problem. What you did hear is significant indicators, of progress."
He added, “Even though the data is on our side that the subways are as a factual matter becoming safer, public spaces in New York in general — and the subway is one of them — don’t always feel as safe and as orderly as we want them to. And that is why it’s so important that we maintain the relationships and the collaboration that you see represented with these forces behind us and that you see in the subway every day of the week.”
The overall crime number may be down by 6.3% owing partly to reductions in felony assaults, burglary, and grand larceny, but the move hasn’t been welcomed by all New Yorkers, with one rider telling ABC7, “I think it's sort of a waste of resources to bring the National Guard to handle something like the subway.”
Another questioned the deployment of National Guard troops to high-profile locations like Grand Central Station saying, “Nothing against the governor, but there's no need for it. I would rather see them in places that would really benefit more. But Grand Central? There's nothing really going on. So there's really no point in it.”
In a statement reported by Fox News, Hochul said, "It's clear to me, as I've heard from many people, that the presence of the National Guard has made not just a physical difference, but a psychological difference in how they feel about safety.”
"When people see a person in uniform… even our National Guard, they feel more secure."
Lieber told The New York Post, “We can talk about individual categories, but the point is the overall effort has been paying dividends.”
As reported by ABC7, Hochul and MTA Chairman Janno Lieber are insistent that the authorities are making progress and that overall crime is down despite murders in the subway being up 200%, felony assaults jumping up 55% and burglaries spiking up by 140% over 2019 figures.
"This is not a response to a specific crime. We're not seeing a trend that's alarming, but it's about continuing a strategy that has proven its success and expanding it to protect even more people," Hochul told reporters.
Lieber explained, “There's nothing you heard from me or the governor-not just today, but ever-that suggests that we think that crime is not a problem. What you did hear is significant indicators, of progress."
He added, “Even though the data is on our side that the subways are as a factual matter becoming safer, public spaces in New York in general — and the subway is one of them — don’t always feel as safe and as orderly as we want them to. And that is why it’s so important that we maintain the relationships and the collaboration that you see represented with these forces behind us and that you see in the subway every day of the week.”
The overall crime number may be down by 6.3% owing partly to reductions in felony assaults, burglary, and grand larceny, but the move hasn’t been welcomed by all New Yorkers, with one rider telling ABC7, “I think it's sort of a waste of resources to bring the National Guard to handle something like the subway.”
Another questioned the deployment of National Guard troops to high-profile locations like Grand Central Station saying, “Nothing against the governor, but there's no need for it. I would rather see them in places that would really benefit more. But Grand Central? There's nothing really going on. So there's really no point in it.”
In a statement reported by Fox News, Hochul said, "It's clear to me, as I've heard from many people, that the presence of the National Guard has made not just a physical difference, but a psychological difference in how they feel about safety.”
"When people see a person in uniform… even our National Guard, they feel more secure."
Additional 250 National Guard troops will flood subways to keep holiday straphangers safe, Hochul announces https://t.co/dAAopB1hJk pic.twitter.com/BIKuDHfWPo
— New York Post (@nypost) December 18, 2024
Lieber told The New York Post, “We can talk about individual categories, but the point is the overall effort has been paying dividends.”
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