Governor Hochul: “These brazen, heinous attacks on our subway system will not be tolerated. Over the last six days, I've held several meetings with top administration officials, City Hall, the Mayor and MTA Leadership. I challenged everyone to find new ways to work together to go after the repeat offenders that the Mayor and I have talked consistently about, and I appreciate his effort on putting the spotlight on these individuals.”
Hochul: “There's a psychological impact – people worry they could be next. Anxiety takes hold. And riding the subway, which should just simply be part of your everyday life, is filled with stress and trepidation. And if you make a living as a transit worker, that is compounded exponentially – that level of stress. So, I say this will not stand, not on my watch. So today in the wake of these latest attacks, I'm unveiling a five-point plan to rid our subways of people who commit crimes and protect all New Yorkers, whether you're a commuter or a transit worker.”
Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul announced a five-point plan to utilize state resources to protect New Yorkers on the subways. This includes surging State personnel to assist NYPD bag checks, a new program bill that would permit transit bans for individuals that assault other passengers, adding new cameras to protect conductor cabins, increasing coordination between District Attorneys and law enforcement, and increasing the number of Subway Co-Response Outreach (SCOUT) teams throughout the system – which will operate in addition to the existing Safe Options Support (SOS) teams. These actions build on the Governor’s unprecedented investment in safety on the subways, from standing up SOS teams to directing the MTA to install cameras in every subway car. Governor Hochul also called on judges to use their expanded discretion to set bail to keep repeat offenders off the streets.
VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format.
AUDIO of the Governor's remarks is available here.
PHOTOS of the event are available on the Governor's Flickr page.
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
Good morning, everyone. Last Thursday morning, Alton Scott, a 20 year old veteran of the MTA, was brutally attacked by, while serving our City – slashed in the neck while performing a routine safety check in his conductor's cab. Luckily, a doctor was on board, just two cars back. He heard a man pleading for help, jumped into action, and literally saved his life.
Over the weekend, a man was kicked out of the tracks at Penn Station. Three people rushed to save him, pull him back into safety. That's the New York I know. When someone's in trouble – total strangers – they come to the rescue, no hesitation. That's the true heart of New York.
And let me just be very, very clear – these brazen, heinous attacks on our subway system will not be tolerated. Over the last six days, I've held several meetings with top administration officials, City Hall, the Mayor and MTA Leadership. I challenged everyone to find new ways to work together to go after the repeat offenders that the Mayor and I have talked consistently about, and I appreciate his effort on putting the spotlight on these individuals.
We're focusing on repeat offenders – deterring crime and protecting the people in our subways, our commuters and also the unsung heroes of the MTA. This is something I've been laser focused on since taking office. Literally, the Mayor was on the job one week and the two of us were in the subways. Many, many other times we've stood together trying to figure out different ways to make sure people feel safe on our subways and indeed are safe on our subways, but I'm not here today to talk to you about numbers and tell you stats and statistics about what's going up or what's going down. I'm here to take action because that's what the situation requires. Rattling off statistics, saying things are getting better, doesn't make you feel better. Especially when you've just heard about someone being slashed in the throat or thrown onto a subway tracks. There's a psychological impact – people worry they could be next. Anxiety takes hold. And riding the subway, which should just simply be part of your everyday life, is filled with stress and trepidation. And if you make a living as a transit worker, that is compounded exponentially – that level of stress. So, I say this will not stand, not on my watch. So today in the wake of these latest attacks, I'm unveiling a five-point plan to rid our subways of people who commit crimes and protect all New Yorkers, whether you're a commuter or a transit worker.
Point one – I'm redeploying nearly 1,000 members of the New York State Police, MTA Police, an MTA National Guard to conduct bag checks in the City's busiest transit stations, which is why I want to introduce the leadership team that is helping us get to this point. Janno Lieber– you'll be hearing from him momentarily. You've heard him speak many times about the challenges we face on the subway, and he is so committed to making sure that our subways are safe and I applaud his leadership. We also have Thomas J. Taffe, the Chief of Operations for MTA Police. The MTA Police are a critical part of this answer. But also, we have Major General Shields. This is my team, the Army National Guard, and Superintendent Steven James of the New York State Police.
All of them have come together to help us figure out the resources that we can bring to this situation. So, we'll be having 750 members of the New York National Guard, as well as another 250 personnel from State and MTA police. You'll start seeing them at the tables, making sure that weapons are not being brought in, working in concert with our New York State Police, as well as our NYPD because no one heading to their job or to visit family or to go to a doctor appointment should worry that the person sitting next to them possesses a deadly weapon. They shouldn't worry about whether someone's going to brandish a knife or gun. That's what we're going to do at these checkpoints.
Number two, I'm proposing that we amend New York State laws in this session, in a matter of weeks, to allow courts to ban anyone from riding the subway or taking a bus who's convicted of a violent crime against another passenger. Now, there's already a similar law in the books intended to protect personnel from the MTA, but that law has many loopholes that we've identified and indeed, it's only been used three times since it was first enacted in 2020. We're going to get to the bottom of that, find out what's missing – what language is required.
So, basically if you assault someone on the subways, you won't be on the subways and a judge will now have the power to make sure that for at least three years, they'll have the ability to keep you off the subways.
Now this isn't some radical idea. Think about if you're convicted of a DWI. A judge determines that you're a danger. Guess what? You're not riding on our roads. You're not able to drive a vehicle. You lose your license. It's the same principle right here and I expect the judges to use that discretion. Point three – we're strengthening the cooperation between the police who patrol the subways and the District Attorneys who prosecute the crimes. This is something that came up at our meetings.
The District Attorneys need to know the full body of evidence that's out there with respect to these recidivists and repeat offenders – something that the Mayor and I understand. Enhanced coordination will be a hallmark of our effort to drive down gun crime. It has been that in coordination has helped us drive down gun crime. We spoke about that earlier this week up in Albany. It also helped us deal with car thefts driving down those crimes as well. I believe it can work on the subways as well.
A couple of components – effective immediately, the MTA will work with the District Attorneys and the NYPD to create a new early warning system for repeat offenders.
We know who they are. They'll flag the criminal history at the time of arrest so it can be fully considered when decisions regarding charging and bail are made. Second, we're establishing regular meetings between the police on the subway and the District Attorneys. We'll hold them at the Crime Analysis Center right here in New York City. Again, bringing people together, sharing data, making sure there's accountability. And let me explain why that's significant – these meetings will give a regular forum for police and DAs to get the full picture of someone who's charged with a crime. Have the police had run ins with them before? The police certainly know. Are they constantly causing trouble? Are they menacing to others? I want DAs to have all the background and information they need to make a strong case before a judge in court. This will make sure that the repeat offenders are dealt with accordingly. Again, I need the judges to uphold their end of the bargain. They are an important, important part of this.
Last year, we gave judges more discretion. You all know the budget was one month late, because I held it up to make sure I could get the discretion back to judges that they no longer would simply use the least restrictive means when considering bail. That is history. That is not the law. It has come to my attention that there are still some judges applying that standard. So, we're talking to the Office of Court Administration, enhancing education, saying, “No, the law has since changed, it has gone into effect and that would be having gone into effect since May of 2023.” So, I'm anticipating that we'll see a change in results when you look one year from now, but these new laws have only been in place less than a year. So, I'm just saying to the judges, use the tools that we've now given you to protect New Yorkers.
Point four is about protecting our transit workers. If a camera had been positioned on Alton Scott's conductor cabin last Thursday, we probably would have already apprehended the person who slashed his neck or maybe they wouldn't have done it at all if they knew there were cameras watching their every move. Now I've already pushed the MTA to speed up the installation of cameras in subway cars and thank you for your commitment to do that. We've shaved off many, many months and every month is going to make a difference. They'll all be completed by the end of this year, not the longer period that had been first talked about and I think that's an essential deterrent. If someone who's going to do harm to someone else, those that are being recorded, that there's cameras watching them, they might just think twice about it.
But also, if they go forth with committing a crime, we'll have the evidence to make sure they don't do it again. But also, there's a blind spot in the cabin. And that's why today I'm directing the MTA to install cameras in every single conductor cabin, as well as the platforms that face the cabins.
Now these transit workers, they have hard jobs. Lot of uncertainty – especially in light of the recent increases in crimes on the subways that they have seen. They keep our city running morning, noon, and night. And they deserve every level of protection to offer. The information gathered on the cameras will simply be used to aid in the prosecution of anyone who commits an offense.
Point five is we're expanding the joint MTA and New York City run pilot program. It's called SCOUT. You may have heard of it. It stands for Subway Co-Response Outreach Teams. Now, these are led by mental health clinicians, but here's the difference between them and the SOS teams that I've talked about – these teams are also backed up by the police. They have police officers along for backup and they only deal with individuals having the most severe mental health crises, those that our SOS mental health teams cannot safely approach without police support. These are literally the people who could pose danger to themselves or to others, and it is evident.
So, these teams will work to get them out of the subways, they already are there, get them services and support. And if something bad happens, they can use force if necessary to have them removed from the subway. In many cases, it means getting them into the psychiatric hospitals. You know, I've had a lot of effort trying to open up more beds, so they're available. And also, we have two of these teams in place right now. Today, I'm announcing an additional $20 million to have up to 10 more teams by the end of next year.
Now, this is, again, in addition to our SOS teams which have been doing tremendous work. I've met them many times. We've had them into our office. They’ve moved more than 350 struggling New Yorkers off the streets and into stable housing – the result that we were looking for, and it's getting better. People feel the difference.
So, to recap our five-point plan. Bag checks will be conducted by over 1,000 members of the New York State Police, MTA Police, National Guard in addition to what the City is doing. We're coordinating with the City of New York, so people will see this. A bill to allow judges to ban people from using the subway – people who attack others and are convicted of a violent crime. Improved coordination between police and DAs to keep violent criminals off the subways. Cameras on and in the conductor cabins and expanding our mental health outreach teams.
Here's the message today – anyone looking to do harm or spread fear on our subways – you will be caught. Plain and simple. There will be consequences. This has to end. New Yorkers deserve no less. And to those who are feeling anxious whenever they walk through those turnstiles, we will stop at nothing to keep you safe, you and your family members and restore your peace of mind.
Now, to further talk about and amplify these efforts, I'd like to introduce Janno Lieber and again, thank him for so quickly responding and being there on the front lines to make sure that everyone who takes New York City subways are safe. Janno?