New York City mayor to put gun detectors in subway stations

NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday started the process of setting up gun detection technology in subways, the latest move to crack down on crime in one of the world’s largest public transportation systems.

The devices, which are used in sports stadiums and museums across the city, could be rolled out in subways following a mandatory 90-day waiting period required for all new police technology.

Thursday’s announcement follows a viral video of a shooting on the subway earlier this month, and marks an escalation of Adams’ aggressive push to make New Yorkers feel safer as public opinion on the issue plummets.

“Would I prefer us not having to walk through this to come on our system? You’re darn right I do,” Adams said. “But we have to live life the way it is and work to make it what it ought to be.”

Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul, like-minded centrist Democrats, have been taking steps to deter subway crime as they face the political peril of riders who feel unsafe colliding with New Yorkers distrustful of aggressive policing.

Last year, the governor helped foot the bill for NYPD officers to work 1,200 daily overtime shifts underground. After an uptick in crime in January following the expiration of that funding, Hochul sent the National Guard into stations to conduct bag checks. Earlier this week, Adams announced a surge of officers to deter fare beating. And on Thursday, he said the city will start hiring more clinicians for a $20 million program to help people on subways with untreated severe mental illness.

Still, safety concerns are growing.

On Monday, a man was killed when he was pushed in front of a train in Manhattan the same evening a police officer was fatally shot in Queens — headline-grabbing incidents that are indicative of a larger problem for Adams, who has staked his mayoralty on making the city safer and faces reelection in 2025.

Fewer than half of respondents to a recent survey of New York City residents said they felt safe on the subways during the day, down 40 percent from 2017. Fewer than a quarter said they felt safe on the subways at night, down 52 percent from 2017.

“Stats don’t matter if people don’t believe they are in a safe environment,” Adams said, referencing a statistic he uses often that the subway sees over 4 million riders and just six felonies each day.

The devices announced Thursday detect guns but not other metal objects like phones or water bottles, Adams said. They are manufactured by Evolv, and failed stress tests in 2022, THE CITY reported. Adams emphasized that the technology has improved and said they now work nearly every time.

The pilot will start with a handful of detectors, Adams said, adding that the NYPD will conduct an analysis of where to place the devices based on crime trends. If it’s successful, he added, City Hall could request funding for more detectors from both the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and city-based businesses interested in investing in the technology in nearby stations.

The Legal Aid Society blasted the move, calling the technology flawed and arguing that false alarms cause “panic and creates situations that could result in the loss of life.”

“This Administration’s headstrong reliance on technology as a panacea to further public safety is misguided, costly, and creates significant invasions of privacy,” Jerome Greco, supervising attorney of the organization’s Digital Forensics Unit, said in a statement.

New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman said Adams was “jumping the shark,” pointing to questions over privacy, data security and biases in targeting.

“We should be wary of any flashy new technology that over-promises while raising novel privacy concerns,” Lieberman said in a statement. “And New Yorkers must ask what preventative and supportive initiatives, like housing, mental health, and employment services could be funded with this expense.”

Joe Anuta contributed to this report.