NYCLU on Governor Hochul’s Subway Safety Plan

NEW YORK CITY – In response to Governor Hochul’s subway safety plan announced today, New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman issued the following statement:

“This is another unfortunate example of policymaking through overreaction and overreach. These heavy-handed approaches will, like stop-and-frisk, be used to accost and profile Black and Brown New Yorkers, ripping a page straight out of the Giuliani playbook. Today’s announcement fails to address longstanding problems of homelessness, poverty, or access to mental health care.

“This plan is whiplash inducing. The city only recently trumpeted safety data. Sound policy making will not come from overreacting to incidents that, while horrible and tragic, should not be misrepresented as a crime wave and certainly don’t call for a reversion to failed broken windows policies of the past.

“We need leadership that will treat New Yorkers in crisis with dignity, not restrict their right to travel to their jobs, families, or the very healthcare providers and social supports they may need to help them get back on their feet.

“A sweeping surveillance state and biased broken windows policing won’t delivery security. Real public safety comes from investing meaningful solutions, not over-policing.”