Hochul, Adams targeting crime, homelessness on NYC subways

NEW YORK - Governor Kathy Hochul joined forces with Mayor Eric Adams in Lower Manhattan on Thursday to announce a new initiative that will target public safety issues in the city, including street homelessness and subway crime.

"Safety throughout the subway system remains a top priority for the NYPD," said Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell. "This comprehensive new approach is centered on having more police officers on train cars talking with riders and listening to them because NYPD officers do not just respond to crime in our city –they prevent it and deter it."

Under the initiative, hundreds of additional NYPD officers will be present across the subway system, from both their street-side and underground positions. Uniformed officers will ride the trains as much as possible, in order to cover as much ground as possible.

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Addressing the growing issue of homelessness on the city's streets and on the subways is also part of the strategy.

Hochul said that the state will also be deploying homeless outreach units, known as "Safe Options Support Teams," to help deal with the growing problem of homelessness on subways and city streets.

"We are going to create teams of trained professionals who will be embedded here who will develop relationships, will develop trust, and allow us to face the issue of chronic homelessness with a plan," Hochul said.

Adams, a former transit cop who himself faced homelessness as a child, said that making the city's transit system safe and fighting crime was the top priority for his new administration.

"This new plan also frees up our police officers to focus on crime, and not be the street sweepers of sweeping mean nd women who are homeless off our system. Nowhere is that more important than the transit system," Adams said.