NYPD to deploy more cops to Manhattan as unions plea for transit protection

NEW YORK - Send more police officers into the subway system! That is the message of a letter obtained by FOX 5 News from some of the city’s largest labor unions representing hundreds of thousands of workers to Mayor Bill de Blasio.

The unions say, in the last six months, more than 1,000 transit workers have been assaulted, spit at, harassed, and assaulted. "The system just does not feel as safe as it used to, or as safe as it could be," the leaders wrote.

Being comfortable on the subway will be crucial to getting workers back into offices. 80,000 city workers return to their offices one week from Monday. And the mayor has urged the private sector to follow suit.

To encourage that, the NYPD will deploy dozens of additional officers to commercial districts in Manhattan south of 59th Street, the Wall Street Journal reports. Tom Harris, of the Times Square Alliance, says his organization was assured that 80 more cops would be sent to the Midtown area.

"We have the brightest lights," Harris said of Times Square. "But we also have the biggest spotlight on us."

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