National Guard Deployed to New York Subways

New York's governor is deploying the National Guard to New York City's subways. Gov. Kathy Hochul said Wednesday that 750 members of the state's National Guard will start patrolling stations amid a spate of violent crimes, reports the New York Times. They'll join an additional force of 250 personnel from the State Police and the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority. And that's on top of the 1,000 additional city police officers that Mayor Eric Adams assigned to the subways last month.

• "These brazen heinous attacks on our subway system will not be tolerated," said Hochul. "No one heading to their job or to visit family or go to a doctor appointment should worry that the person sitting next to them possesses a deadly weapon."
• The Daily News cites 97 subway assaults this year, up 13 from this time last year, and the NYPD has logged three subway murders in 2024.
• However, there appears to be friction between various officials on the crime stats, notes ABC7. This week, Adams suggested that fixes already in place were working, as he cited "double-digit decreases in subway crime in February." But that came after a 45% spike in January compared with the same time last year, notes the Times.
• Hochul also is pushing for a law that would ban offenders convicted of violent attacks from riding the subway or buses for three years, per ABC7.

(More New York City subway stories.)