Vincenta Roddey shares her thoughts on Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plan to send the National Guard into the subway system on Friday, March 15, 2024. Roddey has worked for MTA for 27 years.
Photo Camille Botello
Roughly 750 members of the National Guard have flooded New York City subway stations over the past few weeks in an attempt to reduce crime on public transit — all part of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s five-point plan announced on March 6, which aims to “rid our subways of violent offenders and protect all commuters and transit workers.”
Last week, the Bronx Times spoke with MTA employees and riders at Bronx subway stations to gauge the borough’s reaction to Hochul’s plan. And although Bronx residents may only encounter National Guard personnel in densely populated subway stations like Times Square or in lower Manhattan, they still had opinions of their own to offer.
No one that the Bronx Times spoke with had seen or heard of National Guard coming into Bronx stations — the closest station one rider had heard of riders being searched in was the 125th Street Station in Harlem.
“They’re not spread evenly throughout the stations,” said one MTA employee at the 231st Street 1 station in the Kingsbridge area, who did not offer his name. “They’re concentrated where there are the most riders.”
He said he had not seen members of the National Guard in Riverdale and Kingsbridge area stations since Hochul’s plan was enacted. This admission was echoed by MTA employees Vincenta Roddey in Riverdale/Kingsbridge and an anonymous MTA booth worker at the Bedford Park Blvd. Station on the 4 line, along with Joan Martin, who runs a convenience store in the same station on the 4 line.
None had heard of National Guard personnel coming into the Bronx.
“They (the MTA) haven’t really said anything to us about the situation, so I really don’t know the ins and outs of what…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply