More police officers will patrol NYC subway

Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams announced a new plan to increase the presence of police in the New York City subway. Hochul and Adams will utilize police to combat crime and improve the safety of commuters. In addition, they will deploy Safe Options Support (SOS) teams of trained mental health professionals to tackle homelessness across the city. 

The SOS teams will assist unhoused New Yorkers and help them to find permanent housing. Other statewide initiatives to end the homelessness crisis include the legislation to ban criminal background checks on rental applicants and prevent landlords from automatically denying housing to tenants with poor credit history. Moreover, Gov. Hochul announced the development of 100,000 new affordable housing units and 10,000 supportive housing units in the 2022 State of the State address. 

"No one should sleep on the street anywhere in the State of New York," Governor Hochul said. "While the economic devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic has made the homelessness crisis worse, we know there are longstanding structural inequities that need to be addressed in order to provide New Yorkers with stable, healthy homes. I'm committed to helping the New Yorkers who need it most get access to the housing and high-quality care they deserve."

Mayor Adams plans to employ existing police officers to do visual inspections of subway systems. NYPD officers will go through trains and inspect the stations to make the transit system safer for the public. However, homeless advocacy groups such as the Coalition for Homeless oppose this measure and fear that the increased presence of police officers will further stigmatize homelessness. 

“People sleep on the subways because they feel they do not have a safer place to go. The effectiveness of any plan depends on whether outreach teams are able to offer unsheltered New Yorkers the low-threshold, private shelter options and permanent housing they want and need,” Jacquelyn Simone, policy director at Coalition for the Homeless, said in the statement addressing the new plan. 

“While greater City-State collaboration and mental health resources could be helpful, we are concerned that surging police officers into the transit system will further criminalize homelessness and push people away from services and housing.”

Adams insists that the police will not target unsheltered individuals. 

“We will not allow our police officers to have unnecessary engagement with the homeless individuals, and those petty issues that will cause a negative encounter with our police officers and the riders of the public,” Mayor Adams said.

Resources:

“Adams, Hochul will increase police presence in NYC subway system to combat homelessness and crime,” by Aaron Ginsburg (6sqft, 2022)

“Video, Audio, Photos, & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Advances New Statewide Initiative to Combat Homelessness at Event With Mayor Adams,” (New York State, 2022)

“Governor Hochul Delivers 2022 State of the State,” (New York State, 2022)

“Governor Hochul Announces Major Statewide Initiative to End the Homelessness Crisis and Address Longstanding Inequities in Housing,” (New York State, 2022)

“Adams And Hochul Announce Agreement To Deploy More Police To Subways,” by Stephen Nessen, WNYC (Gothamist, 2022)