Gov. Kathy Hochul is set to announce her State of the State address on Tuesday that she will expand both subway co-response teams and add platform barriers to another 85 stations.
(Susan Watts/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)
Gov. Kathy Hochul is set to provide additional support for increased subway security through an announcement in her State of the State address on Tuesday, amNewYork has learned.
The governor is expected to reveal that New York State will significantly expand teams designed to assist individuals in mental health crises on New York City’s subways and install platform edge barriers at many more stations throughout the system.
The announcement, the details of which her office shared exclusively with amNewYork ahead of her speech, comes along with Hochul’s pledge to fund another year of stepped-up overnight NYPD subway patrols — to the tune of $77 million. It also follows crime on the rails in 2025, falling to its lowest level in 16 years.
During Hochul’s annual policy-laden address, she will reveal that she plans to increase funding for the Subway Co-Response Outreach Teams (SCOUT) program from the $20 million it received last year, in order to expand the initiative and pay for adding platform edge barriers at 85 more stations over the next year.
“Keeping New Yorkers safe on our streets and our subways is my highest priority, and this year we will build on our strategy that produced the safest year in the subway in a generation by doubling down on what works,” Hochul said in a statement.
Hochul has made ensuring the subways are not only safe but also feel safe one of her top priorities for the underground system over the past few years.
“Increased state investment in subway safety will give riders peace of mind on platforms, continue the historic reduction in crime that we saw in 2025, and ensure that New Yorkers with severe mental illness sheltering in the subway system get the treatment and care they need,” she said.
SCOUT, which is a partnership between the state and city, currently sends 10 teams throughout the subways to speak to those with severe mental health issues and offer them services, including shelter or psychiatric treatment. The squads — comprised of MTA police officers and city Department of Homeless Services clinical staffers — do have the ability to involuntarily hospitalize those deemed to be a danger to themselves or others.
Removals under the program have led to 7,500 nights of inpatient hospital stays, with “virtually no law enforcement outcomes,” according to the governor’s office.
Under Hochul’s expansion, the program will grow by 50% from 10 to 15 teams, with the goal of reaching more parts of the subway and operating more nimbly.
However, the governor’s planned SCOUT expansion could come into conflict with new Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s pledge to “end co-response teams,” which is embedded in his proposal to establish a new Department of Community Safety. Mamdani’s proposed city agency would completely remove police from responding to those in mental health crisis, handing the responsibility solely to mental health professionals.
Hochul also plans to make the subways safer by adding platform-edge barriers to 85 more stations throughout the system, bringing the number of stations with guardrails up from 115 to 200 this year.
The gates are intended to decrease the risk of straphangers falling or getting pushed onto the subway tracks — though they only cover certain portions of the platform edge, unlike the more comprehensive glass barriers with sliding doors that are common in other cities.
The governor’s pledge comes after she committed in her 2025 State of the State address to add platform edge barriers to over 100 stations by the end of last year. Those stations are spread across the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, F, M, and L lines.
Hochul spokesperson Sean Butler said that it is too soon to say where the new barriers will be installed.