NEW YORK (WABC) -- "Generals lead from the front," New York City Mayor Eric Adams told officers deploying into the subway system at the start of the second night of the NYPD's new effort to curb transit crime: two officers on every train during overnight hours.
The mayor told some of the 100 officers riding the rails that he was once in their shoes.
"The subway system was a different place," he said. "Many of you don't even realize what it was like back then."
Decades later, the subways are much safer, but the mayor said the perception of lack of safety is still a concern.
"We know that people not only must be safe, they must feel safe," he said.
In the past month, major crime on the subways is down 35%, and down 40% in the past week, but anxiety underground is just as real as the statistics.
There are 147 trains rolling through the city in the overnight hours. Statistically, that's when most of the violent crime takes place. It's a show of force intended to deter crime, and to reassure riders, many of whom are taking the subway in the overnight hours because they have no choice.
"NJ, you hear all the time people say, 'Well, it costs this much, it costs that much. How much overtime?' And other mayors try to justify that. I'm not. Whatever penny I need to make people feel safe and be safe, I'm going to spend," Mayor Adams told Eyewitness News reporter N.J. Burkett.
Adams was joined by NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who told the officers the deployment is "unprecedented."
"We are starting something that is unprecedented in this city's history, an effort to put two cops on each of the approximately 150 overnight trains," Tisch said. "This was attempted once decades ago, but at the time it was just one officer per train."
"When you are out there on the trains, be visible, engage passengers, engage the conductors, address conditions as you see them," Tisch told the officers. "Don't walk by them. And just know that in me you have a police commissioner who believes very deeply in the nobility of policing and the importance of your work."
Eyewitness News reporter NJ Burkett spent time overnight riding along with several of the officers. His reports will appear on Eyewitness News and ABC 7 starting Wednesday evening.
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