New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) has responded to the mounting criticism about how unsafe and violent New York City’s subway has gotten, saying the recent “surge” in crimes on the transit system “cannot continue.”
Touting her deployment of 1,000 National Guard members to patrol the subway and the installation of cameras in every subway car, Hochul said her methods are “helping police solve crimes even faster,” according to a Friday statement from her office.
“The recent surge in violent crimes in our public transit system cannot continue — and we need to tackle this crisis head-on,” the governor began. “Many of these horrific incidents have involved people with serious untreated mental illness, the result of a failure to get treatment to people who are living on the streets and are disconnected from our mental health care system.”
Hochul’s message comes as her office, NYC Mayor Eric Adams (D), and the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) have come under fire after several recent disturbing incidents on the subway and its stations went viral.
In late December, a Guatemalan illegal immigrant was arrested and charged with murder after allegedly setting a woman on fire as she slept on the train, burning her alive.
On New Year’s Eve, an attacker allegedly shoved an unwitting man standing on a subway platform in front of an oncoming train, leaving him in critical condition, Breitbart News reported.
On the first day of 2025, an elderly woman was reportedly accosted by four young would-be muggers, but fortunately lived to tell the tale after successfully fighting off the teen girls.
“We have a duty to protect the public from random acts of violence, and the only fair and compassionate thing to do is to get our fellow New Yorkers the help they need,” Hochul continued in her statement, before saying that the crime problem cannot be addressed properly without “changes” made to state law.
Hochul then announced her plan to include legislation in her executive budget to “finally” change statewide involuntary commitment stands to ensure that psychiatric hospitals can commit more people who may pose a danger to themselves or others.
“I will also introduce companion legislation to change Kendra’s Law, improving the process through which a court can order certain individuals to participate in Assisted Outpatient Treatment while also making it easier for individuals to voluntarily sign up for this treatment,” she added. “I’ve been pushing these changes for the past three years — the time for legislative action is now.”
She concluded her message with “Public safety is my top priority and I will do everything in my power to keep New Yorkers safe.”
Hochul’s statement also comes after the heavily-publicized trial of Marine veteran Daniel Penny, whom a jury found not guilty of criminally negligent homicide in early December in the death of fellow subway rider Jordan Neely, who was threatening passengers in a terrifying outburst.
The uptick in crimes and the prosecution of good Samaritans who refuse to be bystanders to them has led to the return of crime prevention group Guardian Angels to the subway system, Breitbart News reported.
The Guardian Angels, founded by former NYC Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa in 1979, is set to have their safety volunteers patrolling the trains once again for the first time since 2020.
Saying that citizens no longer feel able to step in to help in mental health and safety situations, Sliwa said that the “Daniel Penny effect has frozen them” in a video statement at one of the stations:
Guardian Angels will re-appear on subways again in response to sky-high crime pic.twitter.com/53lynsOvc6
— New York Post (@nypost) December 29, 2024
“They’re not going to get involved. I’ve seen grown men who normally might have gotten involved — they’re just not getting involved any longer. We train, this is what we do, we know how to do it,” the chief Guardian Angel said.
Despite Hochul’s claims that she is committed to increasing safety and security on the subway, Sliwa told Fox News that “the governor is all talk and no action.”
