ALBANY – Mass transit has been part of the overall crime conversation in New York over the last several years.
While some statistics show that subway crime in New York City is trending downward – the MTA reported last summer an 9.3% drop in felony assaults and a 16.7% drop in robberies compared to 2024 – the U.S. Department of Transportation recorded a 21% in violent index crimes (murder, rape, robbery, assault) between 2019 and 2024. The same study found that felonious assaults increased 53% during that period.
In December 2024, Governor Kathy Hochul (D-Hamburg) was skewered for a social media post advertising the safety of the subways, just hours after Debrina Kawam, 57, was set on fire and killed by an illegal immigrant.
In March, a Honduran national with four prior deportations and fifteen prior arrests was charged with second-degree murder after pushing two people onto subway tracks at a Lenox Hill subway station, which killed 83-year-old Air Force Veteran Richard Williams.
The Republican caucus of the New York State Legislature is incorporating the “Ride Safe, Ride Secure” legislative package to their ongoing campaign for strengthened criminal justice laws in the state.
The package includes seven bills, some of which have been introduced in prior sessions, that aim to be several pieces of the puzzle in New York’s crime woes.
The first is a bill to enhance assault crimes that occur on public transit or transit systems. A.11053, sponsored by Assemblyman Michael Tannousis (R-Great Kills), would also restore judges’ bail prerogatives on these charges.
The second bill, A.11222, sponsored by Assemblyman Lester Chang (R-Bensonhurst), would impose prison sentences for certain crimes committed while using public transit. It would enhance penalties for assault, weapons offenses, sex offenses, arson, robbery, and drug sales, among others, and would create the offense of Reckless Endangerment on Public Transportation, a Class A-1 felony.
Assemblyman Jarett Gandolfo (R-Sayville), who represents Patchogue and most of the Town of Islip, brings to the table the third bill, A.2261, which would prohibit the governor from preventing state and local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement. Gandolfo has earned co-sponsors in fellow Suffolk delegates, Assemblymen Mike Fitzpatrick (R-St. James) and Mike Durso (R-Massapequa Park). Senator Steve Rhoads (R-Bellmore) is carrying the Senate version of the bill, S.2241.
Gandolfo is also bringing back one of his 2024 proposals, “Laken’s Law,” a bill to require the State to notify federal immigration enforcement upon the arrest, conviction, or release of a non-citizen. Fellow Suffolk Assemblymembers Durso, Joe DeStefano (R-Medford), Keith Brown (R-Northport), and Jodi Giglio (R-Baiting Hollow) have co-signed this proposal.
Assemblyman Patrick Chludzinski (R-Cheektowaga) has put forward A.5801, a bill to prevent local governments from interfering with federal law enforcement’s work at municipal or county jails in furtherance of their duties. It would also mandate that local governments comply with federal detainer requests. From Suffolk, Senator Dean Murray (R-East Patchogue) is carrying the Senate version, S.3649, along with Senators Mario Mattera (R-St. James) and Alexis Weik (R-Sayville).
Conservative lawmakers are also requesting that Raise the Age reforms are passed in Assemblyman Will Barclay’s (R-North Tonawanda) bill, A.4705. The bill would require violent felony offenses committed by 16- and 17-year-olds to be tried in Youth Part Criminal Court. Raise the Age, passed in 2017, increased the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 17. Currently, minors are treated in Family Court or special youth parts.
The “Expand the Transit Ban” statute, A.11063, is proposed by Assemblyman Michael Novakhov (R-Manhattan Beach), and it would prohibit those convicted of sexual or violent rider-on-rider crimes from using all public transportation across the state.
On top of new laws, the group of legislators is also seeking to establish a public transportation safety grant program and fund for the purposes of “enhancing safety infrastructure at public transit facilities throughout the state,” according to the bill’s official summary. A maximum of $100,000,000 would be appropriated to the Public Transportation Safety Grant Fund from the State Treasury. This law was proposed by Assemblyman Michael Reilly (R-Eltingville).
Through this grant, local law enforcement could access funds for equipment like subway platform barriers, and counties could disburse funds to municipal law enforcement’s use at any public transit facility.
A.11054, sponsored by Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny (R-Coney Island), would allow public transit agencies or law enforcement to hire “transit security marshalls,” and grant peace officer status to those marshalls, pursuant to typical fitness standards. Retired law enforcement could also serve in these positions “without being subject to existing earnings limitations.”
Finally, the “Penny for a Hero Good Samaritan Act” would shield from legal consequences individuals who intervene in emergencies to save lives. The bill is crafted in memory of Daniel Penny, a Marine Corps Veteran who in 2023 put Jordan Neely in a chokehold after Neely boarded a subway car in the East Village and began threatening passengers. Neely had forty-two prior convictions before then.
The case generated significant controversy, which ended in a deadlocked jury on Penny’s charges. He was later acquitted of criminally negligent homicide.
The bill, sponsored by Assemblyman Ari Brown (R-Cedarhurst), would classify “reasonable intervention” as what is necessary to “maintain order” and allows deadly force “only when such a person reasonably believes that reasonable intervention is necessary to prevent death or serious physical injury.” $500,000 would also be spent on public service announcements and community-based training programs aimed at informing the public the “responsibilities on being a Good Samaritan.”
From Suffolk, Assemblymembers Giglio, Fitzpatrick, DeStefano, and Brown have all co-sponsored.
“New Yorkers deserve to feel safe every time they step onto a train or bus,” said Assemblyman Gandolfo, who is running for State Senate, in a statement. “This package of legislation is about restoring that sense of security, cracking down on violent crime in our transit systems and making it clear that lawlessness will not be tolerated.”
Assembly Minority Leader Ed Ra (R-Franklin Square) said that “several shocking” recent attacks fly in the face of Democrats’ push to increase mass transit ridership.
“That effort will never succeed if the system continues to be plagued by crime,” said Ra in a statement. “If we fail to take decisive action in the face of what’s happening, it’s not only disappointing, but also negligent…Assembly and Senate Republicans have introduced solutions. Democrats need to find the courage to act.”
Attorney General candidate Saritha Komatireddy (R-Brooklyn) joined lawmakers in their push for the reforms.
“Every day these bills sit idle is another day New Yorkers are left unprotected on their way to work, school, and home,” said Komatireddy in a statement. “Transit crime is not just a New York City issue — it affects communities across our state, from regional rail lines to bus systems that families rely on every day. We have a real opportunity right now to act. Albany should take it.”
Komatireddy is vying against two-term Attorney General Letitia James (D-Clinton Hill) in November. She is a former federal prosecutor who also served as Chief of Staff to the Drug Enforcement Agency.
