Gov. Hochul to deploy 1,000 National Guardsmen, state cops to carry out bag checks in NYC subways

( NYPost )

Nearly 1,000 New York National Guardsmen, state police and MTA cops are being deployed to carry out bag checks in the Big Apple’s crime-ridden subway system, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday.

The additional forces – made up of 750 guardsmen and 250 law enforcement officers — will work alongside the NYPD to patrol “the city’s busiest transit stations” amid a recent surge in underground violence, Hochul said.

“These brazen heinous attacks on our subway system will not be tolerated,” Hochul said as she announced a five-point plan to crackdown on the city’s burgeoning underground crime wave.

“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.”

In addition to the patrol boost, Hochul said she will also introduce a new law that allows judges to ban anyone who has been convicted of a violent transit assault from riding the Big Apple’s subway or bus system.

It comes after Mayor Eric Adams, who was noticeably absent from Hochul’s subway crime crackdown announcement, had said a day earlier that the NYPD would increase its presence underground and enhance bag checks following a spike in transit crime.

Subway crime rates surged in the first two months of this year — spiking by nearly 20% compared to this time last year, according to the latest NYPD stats.

This year alone, three New Yorkers have been shot dead on trains and subway platforms.