New York City will begin removing homeless people from subways

NEW YORK: New York leaders on Saturday released a plan to strictly enforce rules on the New York City subway as part of an aggressive effort to remove homeless people from the city’s sprawling transit system.

“No more just doing whatever you want,” said the New York City mayor, Eric Adams, at a press conference announcing the plan in a subway station in lower Manhattan.

“Those days are over. Swipe your MetroCard, ride the system and get off at your destination. That’s what this administration is saying.”

New York police department (NYPD) officers will be given a “clear mandate” to enforce the subway’s rules of conduct, which includes prohibitions against lying down, creating an unsanitary environment and smoking or openly using drugs.

The plan comes in light of an uptick in felony assaults in the subway which, while rare, were up 25% in 2021 compared with 2019. Last month, the death of an Asian American woman who was shoved off a subway platform into the path of a train prompted forceful promises from Adams, who took office in early January, to increase law enforcement in the subway system.

Adams in January vowed to increase subway inspections and add 1,000 more cops to the system.

Under the plan, NYPD officers will undergo additional training on enforcing the rules of conduct.

The city said that officers will be stationed at the end of subway lines, where all passengers will be required – rather than encouraged – to leave the train.

Along with increasing enforcement, Adams and New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul, said the city and state will expand outreach services to unhoused people who may be living within the subway system.