By Michael V. Cusenza
The City on Monday assigned dozens of cops to overnight trains, fulfilling a pledge made by Gov. Kathy Hochul during her State of the State address.
“This is not a new conversation about subway safety and how do we get it under control; 4.6 million riders, average of six felonies a day, increase in violent arrests are up,” Mayor Eric Adams said on Tuesday. “These officers are doing an amazing job under the chief. And thanks to our partnership with the governor, there will be two uniformed officers assigned to each train between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m., taking a phased—we’re going to do a phased approach to rollout until we get to the roll of 300.”
City Police Department Chief of Transit Joseph Gulotta called Monday’s deployment “very successful.”
“Our goal is to make sure we’re on the train, we’re stepping off the train at each station, we’re switching to a different car at each station. We’re going to make contact with the conductor and the motorman on these trains, and the goal for that is they’re going to announce that a police officer is on that train,” Gulotta added. “So if you get on that train and you may not see that police officer in the car, the MTA is going to make an announcement telling you, yes, there is a police officer on this train, and that’ll alert people out of there. Secondly, at each platform, they’re going to step off at the platform and step on another train, which is going to be also highly visible, and I think this is going to be a very effective way for us to move forward with this.”
At any time overnight there are 147 total trains running. Gulotta said eventually 300 cops will cover those trains. However, right now 100 cops have been assigned to the A, G, J, and L lines.
Gulotta and Adams said the six-month initiative will not lead to more service disruptions.
“This is not going to be an inspection. These are going to be officers riding these trains. We’re not inspecting the cars. This is going to be moving from car to car, flowing. And like I said, I did it myself, and there was no service disruption whatsoever,” the chief said.
“The police won’t do inspections just to hold up the train. Whatever we must do to make sure people are safe, we’re going to implement,” Adams added. “So when officers walk through and do an inspection, it’s not just merely a routine inspection. It is also– the officers are maybe looking for someone. There may have been a call over their radio. They may be walking through. But we’re not going to compromise on safety at all, and that is important to us.”
In her speech, Hochul announced a series of new steps toward a safer City subway system.
“Crime and the fear of crime need to be reduced, and the surge of law enforcement patrol, protective barriers and LED lighting will increase the subway system’s security for both riders and transit workers,” she said.
