The global pandemic and looming MTA budget crisis won't stop Governor Andrew Cuomo from flooding the subway with 500 new cops.
On Friday, the MTA confirmed to Gothamist that the agency will go ahead with a contentious plan to expand the agency's police force by 64 percent. On top of the 150 cops already hired this year, the agency will add 150 more officers in July and another 200 in December, a spokesperson said.
The hiring spree, which was pushed through by the governor in December over fierce objections from advocates and some MTA board members, is expected to cost $249 million over four years. When announced last year, Cuomo's office said the new hires were intended to crack down on fare evasion, as well as address an increase in assaults on transit workers. Homelessness and "quality of life" issues were also cited by Cuomo in the lead-up to the hiring spree.
It comes at a moment when the MTA is teetering on the edge of financial collapse, as measures to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus have plunged subway ridership down 93 percent. The agency is now anticipating $8 billion in losses from fares, tolls, and taxes, and reassessing portions of its $51 billion capital plan.
On Friday, transit officials appealed to the federal government for another $4 billion bailout, an emergency allocation that MTA Chairman Pat Foye described as "literally essential to keeping the MTA going."
Asked how the agency justified the expense given its desperate financial straits, an MTA spokesperson said the new cops factored into the transit system's "core mission."
"The MTA's top priority is to provide a safe and secure transportation system, that’s part of the core mission," said spokesperson Meredith Daniels. "Despite lower ridership levels, there has been a significant increase in crime throughout the system. More police officers serve a necessary benefit now and when we begin to restore higher service levels."
According to the NYPD, robberies inside the transit system increased by more than 50 percent last month, while both grand larcenies and felonies are down compared to March of last year. Total major felonies have increased by 22 percent year-to-date.
Advocates said that the MTA should prioritize major capital projects — like signal modernization — while reevaluating its earlier decision to hire 350 new officers.
"An expensive new police force adds insult to injury at this moment," said Danny Pearlstein of the Riders Alliance. "Just as the MTA has had to rethink so much in such a short span of time, the agency and the governor who controls it should be rethinking last fall's decision to hire an expensive new police force."
A spokesperson for the Governor's Office did not respond to Gothamist's inquires.
