“I have not heard from one person, and from all the people, that it’s safer on the subways and public transportation in New York,” Blakeman said as he rode the subway. “I’ve heard just the opposite. Everybody says they feel less safe.”<\/p>\n
“So we want them to feel safe,” he said.<\/p>\n
VIOLENT TRANSIT ATTACKS IN ATLANTA, NEW YORK AND CHARLOTTE FUEL CALLS FOR TOUGHER TRACKING OF REPEAT OFFENDERS<\/a><\/p>\n Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman paid a campaign trip to the New York City subway system, lashing out at Democratic policies that have reduced public safety confidence for commuters and tourists in the state’s largest city of long reliably blue voters. (WYNW)<\/p>\n Blakeman, a Nassau County executive, is a former commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Now running for governor, he was campaigning Monday in the densely populated city, which is overwhelmingly a Democratic stranglehold.<\/p>\n “Hire more police officers, hire more conductors, clean up our subways and get help for those who are emotionally ill \u2013 get them help that they need; not have them roam around our subways,” Blakeman told reporters as he rode the subway, targeting both the governor and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani<\/a> in the deep-blue area.<\/p>\n MAMDANI UNVEILS SWEEPING NYPD USE-OF-FORCE REVIEW, BUT STOPS SHORT OF FULFILLING KEY CAMPAIGN PROMISES<\/a><\/p>\n “The crime in the subways has gone up tremendously under Kathy Hochul and Zohran Mamdani,” Blakeman lamented. “They are not committed to public safety. I will be committed to public safety. I will make sure that our public transportation is safer and cleaner for the traveling public.”<\/p>\n “That’s how you get more people back in public transportation, not by putting a tax on them with congestion pricing<\/a>, which is nothing more than a tax on the middle class,” he added.<\/p>\n NEW YORKERS TAKE ZOHRAN MAMDANI FREE BUS PROMISE LITERALLY AS MTA LOSES MILLIONS IN SKIPPED FARES<\/a><\/p>\n Blakeman hit Democrats for being negative influences on public safety, and Hochul specifically, for having “reduced the number of conductors on our trains and subways.”<\/p>\n MAMDANI CLASHES WITH DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS’ PUSH TO ABOLISH POLICE AND PRISONS<\/a><\/p>\n New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman sparred over her support for NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani during a contentious debate last week. (Anna Connors – Pool\/Getty Images ; John Nacion\/Getty Images for Empire State Realty Trust)<\/p>\n More police patrolling the subways and improving the lighting in dimly lit subway systems are on Blakeman’s priority list, but he also discussed having more conductors manning the subways.<\/p>\n Hochul vetoed Albany legislation that would have required conductors on more subway trains, leaving the MTA\u2019s one-person train operation program in place versus the June 2025 state-passed bill requiring at least two-person crews \u2014 an operator and conductor.<\/p>\n SHOCK POLL: POWERFUL BLUE STATE GOV’S LEAD SHRINKS TO SINGLE DIGITS WEEKS BEFORE ELECTION<\/a><\/p>\n Hochul vetoed that bill on Dec. 5, 2025, arguing it would restrict MTA modernization efforts and cost up to $10 million annually.<\/p>\n “Police are very important, but I think people feel very comfortable and very safe when they see a conductor,” Blakeman said. “I want to increase the numbers so that people feel safe.”<\/p>\n Blakeman called Hochul “the most pro-criminal governor in the United States of America,” citing several criminal-justice and immigration policies.<\/p>\n HOCHUL BOASTS ‘I JUST BANNED IT’ AS NEW YORK OUTLAWS LOCAL POLICE PARTNERSHIPS WITH ICE<\/a><\/p>\n “Whether it\u2019s cashless bail, Raise the Age, the HALT Act, Clean Slate, or refusing to cooperate with ICE<\/a> and federal agents, she has made us less safe,” he said, striking at Democrat-backed legislation long rebuked by police groups and Republican public safety hawks.<\/p>\n Cashless bail limits when judges can require defendants to put up money to be released. Raise the Age generally keeps 16- and 17-year-olds out of adult criminal court, while the HALT Act limits solitary confinement and changes prison disciplinary practices. The Clean Slate law seals certain criminal convictions from public view after a designated waiting period.<\/p>\n![\"Bruce](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/blakeman-subway-safety.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Hochul,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Hochul-Mamdani-Blakeman.jpg\")
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