Gov. Kathy Hochul’s decision to deploy the National Guard and state police to check bags on New York City’s subway system was immediately met with concerns that it was more rooted in politics than public safety.
Then, Hochul said as much on TV.
“I’m also going to demonstrate that Democrats fight crime as well,” she said during an interview on MSNBC on Thursday. “This narrative that Republicans have said and hijacked the story that we’re soft on crime, that we defund the police. No.”
The move was announced on Wednesday and comes amid heightened anxieties around subway crime after a spate of high-profile incidents. But it struck some as an overreaction, as crime statistics have started to trend downward. Hochul argues the presence of armed forces on the subway is meant to have a “psychological” effect that would deter crime and reassure riders.
So far, the National Guard soldiers are only being seen in some major transit hubs. Gothamist visited stations in the Bronx where some high-profile incidents of subway violence have recently unfolded, including the elevated station at Mount Eden Avenue where six people were shot — one fatally — on the platform last month. There were no signs of National Guard members or checkpoints at the entrances to those stations.
The deployment is having a psychological effect there, according to riders, but not the one the governor was presumably aiming for.
“That’s too extreme right there,” said Brian Best, a 59-year-old commuter at the 161st Street-Yankee Stadium station. “I think as pedestrians, if we was more vigilant and looking out for each other, National Guard wouldn’t be necessary. … Machine guns and uniforms, that’s just too much, you know?”
Hochul’s announcement was an apparent attempt to mollify concerns that the subway is becoming less safe, but data from the NYPD paints a more complex picture. Major crimes in the transit system are up by 13% so far this year compared to last year but are roughly…
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