NYC Subway Safety Plan Takes Effect to Fight Crime – NBC New York (47)

What you should know

• Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams unveiled plans Friday to address the problem of lack of security on the New York City subway, as the push to get people back to their offices collides with a sharp rise in traffic crime.
• Both Hochul and Adams see a widespread return to work as the key to a full recovery of the city’s and state’s economy. But they have also recognized that if people don’t feel safe on the subway, they won’t come back.
• For Adams, a former traffic cop in only his second month as mayor, rising crime has become a stumbling block to his city recovery plans.

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New York City began Monday to implement the Subway Safety Plan that Mayor Eric Adams first announced Friday, along with state Governor Kathy Hochul, as a push to get people back to offices safely. safe after the increase in crime on the train system. Both officials acknowledge that if people don’t feel safe on the subway, they won’t come back.

The beginning of the measures occurs after at least 6 stabbings were reported in the train system over the weekend, which once again showed the insecurity in this means of transport.

The plan lays out how the city will begin to address public safety concerns and support the homeless and seriously mentally ill in the Big Apple’s subways. It includes comprehensive investments in short- and medium-term solutions, including expanded outreach teams with officers and physicians from the New York City Police Department, additional housing and mental health resources, and outlines long-term systems improvements through of changes to state and federal laws to connect more New Yorkers with the care they need.

A key component of the plan, in partnership with the MTA and other state entities, will also direct police personnel to help enforce certain subway rules, such as not sleeping in multiple seats, or preventing aggressive behavior with passengers or creating an unhealthy environment.

Investments in people will provide immediate support and protection for New Yorkers, while investments in places like drop-in centers, safe havens, stabilization beds and vans Street Homeless Outreach Wellnessas well as changes in policies at the local, state and federal levels will provide solutions in the medium and long term.

The security measures of the plan include: (LOOK HERE THE COMPLETE PLAN)

• Dispatch up to 30 Joint Response Teams bringing together the Department of Homeless Services (DHS), the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the New York Police Department, and community providers at high-risk sites. need throughout the city.
• Train NYPD officers in the subway system to enforce the MTA and New York City Transit Authority rules of conduct in a fair and transparent manner.
• Expand “B-HEARD” Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division teams to six new campuses, more than doubling the covered campuses. These teams will expand the already successful pilot plan of responding to non-violent mental health calls to 9-1-1 with professional mental health services.
• Incorporate medical services at Department of Homeless Services sites that serve the unprotected. The expanded programs Safe Havens and DHS stabilization beds will offer on-site physical and behavioral health care to immediately address client needs.
• Immediately improve coordination across government with weekly “Enhanced Outreach Task Force” meetings that bring together leaders from 13 city and state agencies to quickly address issues.
• Create new Drop-In Centers to provide an immediate path for people to enter and explore opportunities to locate Drop-In Centers near key metro stations to directly transition people from trains and platforms to safe spaces.
• Simplify the supportive housing placement process and reduce the amount of paperwork needed to pass the criteria.
• Request State Government to expand psychiatric bed resources and amend the Kendra Act to improve the delivery of mental health care for New Yorkers in assisted outpatient treatment.
• Requiring, rather than requesting, that everyone leave the train and the station at the end of the line.

“It is cruel and inhumane to allow homeless people to live on the subway, and unfair to pay transit riders and workers who deserve a clean, orderly and safe environment,” said Mayor Adams. “The days of turning a blind eye to this growing problem are over, and I look forward to collaborating with the State, Federal Government, TWU, advocates and law enforcement to solve this challenge. It will take time, but our work starts now.”

“For too long, our mental health care system suffered from disinvestment, and the pandemic has only made things more difficult for New Yorkers with serious mental illness who find themselves homeless,” said New York Governor Kathy Hochul. “I am proud to support Mayor Adams and share in our efforts to boost mental health treatment services for those without stable housing and bring more psychiatric beds online. We must work together to keep our subways, the lifeblood of New York City, safe for all passengers and to provide aid and services to those who need them.”

Serious crimes in the transit system are up 65% this year compared to the same period last year, an average of 6 incidents per day. Murders, rapes and serious crimes have been on the rise.

A survey of Quinnipiac among New York City voters earlier this month put the numbers in stark relief. Less than half of voters said they felt safe taking the subway during the day, and only about a quarter said they felt safe at night.

For Adams, a former traffic cop in only his second month as mayor, rising crime has become a stumbling block to his city recovery plans.

Many of the highest-profile crimes, like the woman pushed to her death in front of a train in Times Square in January, were committed by homeless people, so addressing that particular problem is urgent.

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