Roughly 750 members of the National Guard have flooded New York City subway stations over the past few weeks in an attempt to reduce crime on public transit — all part of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s five-point plan announced on March 6, which aims to “rid our subways of violent offenders and protect all commuters and transit workers.”
Last week, the Bronx Times spoke with MTA employees and riders at Bronx subway stations to gauge the borough’s reaction to Hochul’s plan. And although Bronx residents may only encounter National Guard personnel in densely populated subway stations like Times Square or in lower Manhattan, they still had opinions of their own to offer.
No one that the Bronx Times spoke with had seen or heard of National Guard coming into Bronx stations — the closest station one rider had heard of riders being searched in was the 125th Street Station in Harlem.
“They’re not spread evenly throughout the stations,” said one MTA employee at the 231st Street 1 station in the Kingsbridge area, who did not offer his name. “They’re concentrated where there are the most riders.”
He said he had not seen members of the National Guard in Riverdale and Kingsbridge area stations since Hochul’s plan was enacted. This admission was echoed by MTA employees Vincenta Roddey in Riverdale/Kingsbridge and an anonymous MTA booth worker at the Bedford Park Blvd. Station on the 4 line, along with Joan Martin, who runs a convenience store in the same station on the 4 line.
None had heard of National Guard personnel coming into the Bronx.
“They (the MTA) haven’t really said anything to us about the situation, so I really don’t know the ins and outs of what they’re looking for,” said Roddey, who has worked for MTA for 27 years and is currently stationed at the 238th Street 1 station. “They didn’t tell us anything.”
Crime and safety
The announcement of Hochul’s plan came on the heels of two deadly February shootings in the Bronx subway system, one in Mount Eden and one in Fordham Heights.
And while a few MTA employees said they were not overly concerned about crime in their specific stations, riders had a different story to tell.
“This is like a losing battle,” said one rider, who asked to be referred to as George S. He called back to the March 14 subway shooting in Brooklyn at the Hoyt-Schermerhorn Station.
“I have friends who won’t take the trains or go to the theater because they don’t feel safe with the subway system,” he continued.
Martin has worked at the convenience store in the Bedford Park Blvd. Station for three years and said multiple times that crime is “out of control,” adding that she now takes a cab instead of a subway to get everywhere.
“I’m afraid,” Martin said.
Bag searches and a presence of authority
Though there has been little sighting of the National Guard in the Bronx transit system — at least by those who agreed to speak with the Bronx Times — Bronxites have both agreements and worries with the governor’s plan.
The rider George S. likes the new plan. He believes the increased “presence of authority” and visibility of National Guard in Bronx subways will help lower crime rates, saying that “local police are not around” to do the job.
“Any extra help on the subways is beneficial,” he said.
The MTA employee at 231st Street agrees, saying he supported the deployment of the National Guard into the subways, but then tacked on: “It’s complex. More money and more services should be directed to other issues, like to homeless people.”
Contrary to the visibility of National Guard in the subways, the bag searches seem to be more controversial. One rider, who didn’t offer her name, says it may be a good way to protect people on the subways, though she worries it may become a way to target minorities.
She went on to say that she carries pepper spray for self defense and worries it could be confiscated, noting that she’d “have no way of protecting” herself, which is obligatory because she has “a little one” at home.
Roddey, with decades of MTA service under her belt, says she doesn’t think bag searches will be the most effective way to ensure the safety of Bronx riders.
“It’s helpful, but there could be a better way,” she said.
Martin, meanwhile, thinks ahead to the future of Hochul’s plan and whether it’s a good use of resources.
“If it’s permanent, yes,” Martin said. “If not, it’s a waste of time.”
Hochul’s additional subway safety efforts
The 750 National Guard members deployed into the subway system, aimed at stations with heavy foot traffic, are also joined by 250 members of the New York State Police and the MTA Police Department.
This is just one step in Hochul’s five-point plan. She has announced a new program bill that would ban those convicted of assault in the subway system from using MTA service. She also intends to “initiate regular meetings” with stakeholders to ensure that violent repeat offenders in the subway system are held accountable for their actions and kept off the subway.
Hochul has also promised to fast-track the installation of cameras inside train cars and has directed $20 million toward the pilot of the SCOUT program, which aims to “address the most severe cases of mental health crisis within the subway system.”
“I am sending a message to all New Yorkers: I will not stop working to keep you safe and restore your peace of mind whenever you walk through those turnstiles,” Hochul said in a statement.
Camille Botello contributed to this report.
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