‘Irresponsible:’ MTA Says Mayor’s Plan To Add 250 Subway Officers Isn’t Enough To Combat Recent Crime
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — The blame game over safety on the subway continues, and so does crime.
Police say a 23-year-old man was stabbed in an unprovoked attack while exiting the C train around 6 p.m. Monday at the Kingston-Throop Avenue station in Brooklyn.
Two hours later, another man was slashed in the face on the platform of the 135th Street and Lenox Avenue station in Harlem.
“I’m scared to ride the subway anymore. I used to love it,” commuter Lisa McGill told CBS2.
For months, there has been a tug-of-war between the city and the MTA, with transit leaders begging for more police officers.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday he’s adding 250 more officers assigned to special deployment underground, joining the 3,000-member force.
“It will be the largest NYPD transit force in over 25 years,” he said. “We’re going to send a very powerful message that we’re putting in the resources every day.”
De Blasio also called on the MTA to add more cops of their own.
“I’m asking the MTA to pull their weight. They were supposed to hire officers a year and a half ago. They didn’t do it, they still have vacancies,” he said in an interview. “They should be shifting officers onto the subway system.”
However, transit leaders say they are.
“Doing whatever it takes, as long as that remains the case, it’s great news for our riders, for our workforce and for New York,” said New York City Transit Authority Interim President Sarah Feinberg.
The MTA will be adding 400 officers by the summer, and said the mayor did the math wrong. The agency claims 20% of the surge in NYPD officers from February has already been withdrawn.
A spokesperson also said the additional officers announced Monday “aren’t new officers at all, but just extra shifts and will not even be full time.”
“This is irresponsible,” the spokesperson added.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said two years ago he encouraged the MTA to hire more officers but was met with “public resistance.”
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May 18, 2021 at 05:19PM
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