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Gov. Kathy Hochul promised Thursday that state officials will pay for dozens of new social workers charged with getting homeless New Yorkers off subway trains and into shelters.
The governor made the announcement alongside Mayor Eric Adams, who pledged the New York Police Department will “beef up” its patrols underground in a bid to boost rider confidence in the safety of the transit system.
Hochul did not provide details about when they would hire or deploy the five new teams of eight to 10 social workers and medical professionals — nor did Adams specify how many cops would be redeployed from desk duty to patrolling the Big Apple’s sprawling subway system.
“For the first time, we’re going to create teams of trained professionals, who will be embedded here, build relationships, develop trust,” Hochul said at the Fulton Street station in Manhattan. “We’re going to get them the support they need, get them into shelter and ultimately into housing.”
Hochul’s office did not immediately provide a price tag for the initiative, either. She also did not say exactly how the teams would handle homeless people who refused help, but said they hoped to make shelters a good option for them.
“You have to make it a shelter that people actually want to be in as well,” she said. “This is a scary place for people, especially during COVID, and they’re afraid of being victims of crimes in the shelter sometimes.”
“We have to change the dynamic of what a shelter is and make it truly temporary and have enough supportive housing and real homes for people,” she added. “Now, that’s not going to happen overnight.”
Since being homeless isn’t illegal, those who refuse help are allowed to go on their way if they’re not violating the law or posing an immediate threat to themselves or others.
“It’s about building trust. When you build that trust and provide the wraparound services, you can actually have a better chance of taking them off the streets,” said Adams. “These are people who are living on the streets and the subway system, just have a lack of trust in the system.”
Adams — who encountered mentally ill and homeless straphangers during his trip to City Hall on his first day in office Saturday — argued the new state teams would give cops more time to focus on public safety and patrols.
“This new plan also frees up our officers to focus on crime, and not be the street sweepers, sweeping men and women who are homeless off our system,” said Adams, a former NYPD captain. “We need to be clear here: We will not allow our police officers to have unnecessary engagement with homeless individuals and those petty issues that will cause negative encounters with riders.”
The “Safe Options Support” teams are supposed to help connect homeless New Yorkers to shelter and services in a bid to help bring them back into stable housing, according to a Wednesday press release. State officials said the teams will also be sent to places in the Empire State “where street homelessness is most widespread,” according to Hochul’s office.
New York City’s Department of Homeless Services deployed similar teams to stations at the end of subway lines during the early days of the pandemic, when the famously 24-hour system was closed down overnight.
“These are individuals who work hand-in-hand with New York City outreach teams,” Hochul said Thursday afternoon.
In the five boroughs, NYPD officers on the trains will be instructed to hand off most cases involving homelessness to the support teams, unless the person is engaging in “criminal activity” that “needs immediate attention,” Adams said.
The plan from Hochul and Adams’ comments come after in December, Acting MTA Chairman Janno Lieber told The Post Editorial Board he was looking forward to partnering with Adams to “deal with” homelessness in the subway.
“We want to deal with issues of disorder,” he said. “We want to deal with the homeless and the mentally ill homeless, and get them services and get them out of the system.’”
Last year, Mayor Bill de Blasio sent hundreds of additional cops onto rush-hour patrols after repeated requests from the MTA, amid an increase in serious subway crime.
On Thursday, new NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell announced a slew of subway-related deployment moves, including “targeted patrol” underground in places they’re most necessary. The blueprint involves NYPD officers who work in various bureaus and special units will be sent to patrol the MTA’s subway system, Sewell explained.
“These new NYPD measures mean that officers will be on targeted patrol the subway system throughout each day,” she said. “There will be hundreds of new visual inspections on the trains each day and night.”
“We will have additional, laser-focused targeted train deployments on the lines and subway system that need them the most,” Sewell added, promising officers will be “present, alert,” in uniform, and will greet straphangers in a friendly manner.
Adams touted that the new strategies include sending precinct-level officers and cops who work desk jobs to patrol the public transit system.
“Too many officers who were hired for public safety are sitting behind desks. We gave them their bulletproof vest, that badge, and that firearm to go and protect the public, not to protect a computer screen,” he quipped. “By getting officers from behind the desk, we’re going to beef up our manpower in a real way.”
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