Users of the nation’s largest subway system will begin to see New York City police on all night trains starting Monday Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a strategy Thursday to ease driver anxiety. a series of horrific high-profile crimes.
“I’m not waiting,” Hochul said at a news conference. “You’ll start to see a greater presence on the night trains on Monday.”
The $77 million strategy will put 750 more police officers on platforms and stations and 300 more officers on night trains, Hochul said.
Police officers patrol the platform of the F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station on December 26, 2024 in New York City.
Yuki Iwamura/AP
“We’ve doubled the number of law enforcement officers in the New York subway system in one year,” Hochul said.
The governor said that most of the crimes committed in the subway system happen at night.
“There’s a lot of anxiety on these trains late at night. I want to manipulate that,” Hochul said.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul delivered the 2025 State of the State Address on January 14, 2025 in Albany, NY.
Mike Groll/New York Governor’s Office via AP
The move comes despite New York City Police Department statistics showing that crime on the transit system is down 36% since this time last year.
However, several high-profile attacks on the subway system by riders have prompted calls for government leaders to tackle the problem.
On December 22nd, a woman sleeping on a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station in Brooklyn died after it was set on fire. The suspect, Sebastian Zapeta, an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala, was arrested after a brief manhunt and charged with first- and second-degree murder and arson in the death of 57-year-old Debrina Kawam, who authorities said was originally homeless. Toms River, New Jersey.
Zapeta has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
On Christmas Eve, a man allegedly used a knife to cut a man and a woman in Manhattan’s Grand Central subway station, police said. The suspect reported assault and threats on Wednesday.
He was arrested on assault, reckless endangerment, menacing, harassment, disorderly conduct and weapons charges after the attack, which left a 42-year-old man with a wrist injury and a 26-year-old woman with a neck injury. said the police.
On New Year’s Eve, a 45-year-old man was pushed onto the subway tracks ahead of an incoming train at the West 18th Street station in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, according to police. The victim, Joseph Lynskey, survived the attack, which was caught on security video, and is expected to make a full recovery, police said.
Kamel Hawkins, 23, the suspect in the subway push, was arrested and charged with attempted murder and assault. He has not entered any allegations yet.
On Wednesday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced the indictment of a 23-year-old man in connection with the December attack on Manhattan’s 50th Street subway station. Bragg alleged that the suspect, Orsen Reyes, stomped on the head of a 48-year-old man and cut him with a knife. Reyes was charged with first-degree assault, three counts of second-degree assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
He has declared himself innocent.
“New Yorkers deserve to be safe on our subway system, and we will continue to work with our law enforcement officers to fight transit crime,” Bragg said in a statement. “I hope the victims continue to heal from this horrific attack.”
Hochul’s move was followed by orders to send New York National Guard troops and New York State Police troopers into the subway system to help riders feel safe. The expansion came after six people were shot, one fatally, in a subway station in the Bronx on February 13, 2024.
