This Sunday, Governor Kathy Hochul joined Brother Fatiyn Muhammad and Jennifer Jones Austin on WBLS’s Open Line. Governor Hochul, just a few days after announcing that she is sending 750 National Guard members along with 250 members of local law enforcement to administer bag checks and other security precautions in the New York City subway system.
According to NY.gov, adding the National Guard and increased police presence on the subways is a part of a five-point plan laid out by Governor Hochul’s administration. This five-point plan 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.”
During the interview Governor Hochul addressed concerns about adding law enforcement to the subway system and how that might feel for New Yorkers who “have a complicated relationship with law enforcement.” Hochul responded by saying “I understand the concerns you’re raising and what I want to do is make sure that the people who live in the black and brown communities who disproportionately use the subway – because the people who use the subway don’t have their own vehicles often times and they’re getting to their jobs, whether it’s a low wage job or a high wage job, and they’re using it more to get their children to school, they’re using it to – seniors use it to get to their doctor’s appointments. It is really the lifeline of our whole region. And I want to make sure that people have a strong sense of safety because otherwise they will not go on.”
Fatiyn Muhammed highlighted previous subway incidents, then asked “how did we get to the point of putting National Guards in and what will be the protocol in stopping and searching individual bags?”
To which the Governor said “The National Guard is only there to supplement the work of the NYPD, which is the entity primarily charged with protecting the subway. We also have MTA Police. We have State Police. They have been around, but I just wanted to show more of a focus in our main transit hubs to free up the NYPD to go into stations. So, it is more of a just a physical presence where you can see – if you’re feeling anxious and you feel safer when you see someone that could protect you if you need help. If you need help, someone is there. And the other program we had would require going to the Budget, which we don’t have the resources right now. I could deploy these individuals immediately. And why wait until the Budget process is over months from now? I needed to take immediate action. And then leaders have to do that sometimes. That’s the situation. We had an unusual spike of crimes, high profile crimes, frightening crimes. Everyone’s thinking that could have been me. And they may be deterred from going on the trains and using the subway, and that’s exactly the opposite of what we want to have happen. We want people to feel safe and be safe.”
Hochul went on to address questions about homelessness on the transit system and potential funds for housing the unhoused, when Brother Fatiyn asked “Do we have more shelter space? More resources coming out for the homeless coming from the State funding coming into the city to help the homeless situation here as we deal with the migrant situation as well?”
“Yes” Hochul said, explaining “part of it is putting up shelters for the migrants. And we have. The State has supported the city between last year (and) initially $4.3 billion to give them a safe place to stay until they can get on their feet, which is what we have to do. We have no choice right now. They have come here. We do not want people on the streets. It’s not good for our city. It’s not good for our residents, not good for the migrants. So, we have been spending an enormous amount of money to make sure that we can take care of the vast majority of them.
And while some may have left the shelters and around the streets, the opportunities for us to get them jobs are there. We’re trying to get them processed. They can get work authorization after a certain amount of time. And ultimately, the main objective is to get them into jobs, so they’re not on the subway trains having to pedal for people to give them contributions or to sell candy. There’s a lot of that with young kids selling candy on the subways. We’re just trying to calm things down and get them into places where they can be safe. And so, that’s our number one priority here, is the safety and security of our passengers.”
The full interview is available on the Open Line Podcast available on the WBLS Podcast feed on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Also featured on this week’s episode were David Banks, the 31st NYC Public Schools Chancellor, and Dr. Shango Banks, the President of BE-U to talk about the Black Studies Curriculum, then Governor Kathy Hochul calls in to discuss the National Guard being deployed in NYC alongside Janno Lieber who is the CEO of the MTA. Then Jumaane Williams, the NYC Public Advocate calls in! All that plus callers from all over New York!
The full transcript to Governor Hochul’s appearance is available here.