NY plan to add more cops to NYC subway has $154M price tag

Hundreds of police officers will be deployed to New York City’s subway trains overnight for the next six months as part of an effort to make them, as well as riders, feel safer.

When will the plan begin?

What we know:

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Thursday she wanted this effort to start on Monday. The goal is to have two officers on every overnight train from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.

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But Hochul made the announcement about flooding the system with an additional 1,000 officers starting next week without NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch present. 

Later, the NYPD came out with a statement saying the plan would have to be rolled out in phases. Phase one will officially begin on Monday and include the first 100 officers.

What they're saying:

"Additional phases will be rolled out over the coming weeks with the expectation that the full operation will be complete by the end of the month," a DCPI spokesperson said. "This is a massive undertaking that involves specialized training as well as logistics and resource management. We appreciate the governor's support in keeping New Yorkers safe."

Hochul said they also will not be hiring new officers, but rather have officers work overtime.

"This is overtime," she said. "This is something that we are willing to do at the state level to assist the city. We've done it before."

How much will the plan cost?

Why you should care:

The state has helped to fund the NYPD’s overtime in the past and although Hochul said this was funding that would be worked out with the legislature during budget negotiations, her staff had to later clarify that the city and state will actually be splitting the cost.

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According to Hochul’s office, the entire effort will cost $154 million, with the city and state both paying $77 million. 

What else does Hochul plan to do?

What's next:

Hochul’s team says they also will be providing funding to install platform edge barriers at more than 100 additional stations by the end of the year. Stations with "higher ridership levels and island platforms will be prioritized."

Other subway safety initiatives the governor wants to roll out are to install LED lighting in all subway stations throughout the system to increase visibility and install "modern fare gates in over 20 stations across the system in 2025, and an additional 20 stations in 2026 in an effort to crack down on fare evasion.

"It's the LED lights, it's the cameras, but also, I say it's time to crack down on the shameless fare evaders who just are so brazen they just walk through and others who are paying feel like, why should I bother," Hochul said.

By the numbers:

Right now, around 2,500 police patrol the subway. Hochul says she wants to add an additional 750 officers to the platforms and an additional 300 officers  to patrol the trains. 

Last year, Hochul deployed around 1,250 state personnel and National Guard to the subways to help with bag checks. She also had the MTA install cameras on every subway car.

New York CityNYC SubwayKathy Hochul