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NEW YORK CITY – New York subway riders are weighing in after Gov. Kathy Hochul sent in the National Guard and state troopers to help the NYPD secure Big Apple subway stations amid fears of crime and chaos.
Many support the move after recent mayhem included surveillance video showing a man at a Manhattan subway station hurling flaming cans at people through a turnstile.
The week capped off with dramatic eyewitness video of a man shot in the head with his own gun after a brawl in a packed subway car.
On Friday, the NYPD revealed the victim also displayed a knife or razor blade during the scuffle, and did not pay the fare at the turnstile.
WATCH: Terrified passengers record subway shooting
Random shoving attacks on the city’s subway platforms have also left people killed or severely injured by oncoming trains, and last week an ex-con was accused of ditching his ankle monitor before shoving his ex into a moving train in Manhattan during an argument.
An NYPD officer patrols a subway station in New York City Monday, March 11, 2024. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a five-point plan earlier this month, deploying 750 members of the National Guard to combat a near 20% rise in crime levels throughout the subways. (Matthew McDermott for Fox News Digital)
BODYCAM VIDEO SHOWS NYPD OFFICERS SPRING INTO ACTION TO PULL MAN FROM SUBWAY TRACKS
A conductor who survived having his neck slashed at random on the job told the New York Post over the weekend he never plans to get on another subway train.
“It’s not safe.”
And straphangers have reported incidents of indecent exposure and other deviant behavior they say increased police patrols would combat.
“It’s not safe,” one rider, Gabriela, told Fox News Digital this week.
Another rider, Tally, said she avoids the trains at night and prefers to take an Uber during off hours.
Members of the NYPD and National Guard conduct random bag searches in New York City’s subway system Monday, March 11, 2024. (Matthew McDermott for Fox News Digital)
“We need more jobs in this country, so they should hire more officers,” added David.
GOV. KATHY HOCHUL HITS BACK AT CRITICS OF SENDING NATIONAL GUARD TO PROTECT NYC SUBWAYS: ‘I’M NOT BUYING IT’
NYPD crime statistics show robberies and transit crime have both risen in the Big Apple so far in 2024 compared to last year, and the string of high-profile violent incidents have travelers on edge.
Commuters travel through a subway tunnel in midtown Manhattan on Monday, March 11, 2024. (Matthew McDermott for Fox News Digital)
“I think no one really feels safe,” Tally said. “But I see officers and I see an effort being made. So, I don’t know. I don’t know where the solution would be.”
Hochul sent the National Guard last week to assist the NYPD with random bag checks, which were reimplemented by Mayor Eric Adams in an effort to curb the violence.
“For people who are thinking about bringing a gun or knife on the subway, at least this creates a deterrent effect,” she told reporters March 6. “They might be thinking, ‘You know what, it just may just not be worth it because I listened to the mayor and I listened to the governor, and they have a lot more people who are going to be checking my bags.’”
Members of the NYPD and National Guard conduct random bag searches in New York City’s subway system Monday, March 11, 2024. (Matthew McDermott for Fox News Digital)
She also proposed a law that would ban people from the subway system if they are convicted of assaulting a fellow passenger and adding cameras to trains after the conductor slashing.
Adams also announced he would increase NYPD patrols on the subway system to fight the crime spike. And amid those increased patrols, NYPD officers were already able to rescue a man who fell onto tracks in the Bronx before a train arrived.
LONG ISLAND BODY PARTS SUSPECTS FREED AGAIN UNDER NEW YORK BAIL RULES
But not everyone was receptive to the bag checks, which prompted some angry grumbling from commuters running late.
Another potential straphanger turned around when he saw the bag station, even though authorities had not stopped him at random.
EX-CON NYC MURDER SUSPECT SMILES WITH DA BRAGG SHORTLY BEFORE SHOCKING ARREST
Members of the NYPD and National Guard patrol the subway system in New York City Monday, March 11, 2024. (Matthew McDermott for Fox News Digital)
He declined to give his name but said he escaped communist Romania as a child and came to the U.S. He called the bag checks “unconstitutional.”
“It doesn’t matter what your politics are,” he said. “They need probable cause to search you.”
With transit crime plaguing the city, critics of progressive district attorneys in four of the five boroughs have complained about low- and no-bail releases of repeat offenders while a Marine Corps veteran is being prosecuted in the death of an erratic passenger who was terrifying fellow riders in May.
NYC MAN SCREAMING ABOUT KNIFE, HOLDING MOTHER IN CHOKEHOLD SHOT DEAD ON NYPD BODYCAM
Members of the NYPD and National Guard randomly search bags in New York City’s subway system Monday, March 11, 2024. (Matthew McDermott for Fox News Digital)
Daniel Penny, 24, is facing charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide after he placed Jordan Neely, 30, in a chokehold while Neely was shouting at and threatening passengers on a Manhattan F train. Neely, who had dozens of prior arrests, including multiple subway assaults, died in the encounter.
US MARINE VET DANIEL PENNY PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO MANSLAUGHTER IN CHOKEHOLD DEATH OF JORDAN NEELY
Penny has been released on $100,000 bail and is due back in court next week.
Daniel Penny departs Manhattan Criminal Court following his arraignment, June 28, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
“I’m not comfortable with my wife and my children taking the subway right now,” said Staten Island attorney Louis Gelormino. He said the city’s crime problems began spiraling out of control after Bill de Blasio abandoned the tough-on-crime policies of his predecessors, Rudy Giuliani and Mike Bloomberg.
“We have to have the [National Guard] to go there and protect our subways when we have the best police department in the entire world, to navigate that system and protect us, is ridiculous.”
Members of the National Guard and the NYPD randomly search bags in New York City’s subway system Monday, March 11, 2024. (Matthew McDermott for Fox News Digital)
In addition to hiring more police, he said, New Yorkers could try electing new district attorneys.
“Other than Mike McMahon in Staten Island, who happens to do a very good job, the district attorneys in this city have all fallen under that major liberal, progressive attitude where they don’t want to prosecute crimes,” Gelormino said. “And it seems like they’re very selective on who they prosecute crimes against. We need to vote for different district attorneys.”
The subways appeared unusually empty outside rush hour Monday.
The city is losing tens of thousands of residents as illegal immigrants and migrants continue to pour in.
About 78,000 people ditched the Big Apple in 2023, The New York Times reported Thursday. That’s on top of 126,000 in 2022, and more than half a million residents left between April 2020 and July 2023, according to the paper.
Fox News’ Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.
Read the full article from Here
Local News
A 13-year-old boy was flown to a Boston hospital after he was found unresponsive in a swimming pool at a home in Beverly on Wednesday afternoon, police said.
Police and firefighters were called to a home on Parramatta Road after bystanders pulled the boy from the pool, the Beverly Police Department wrote in a press release.
Bystanders administered CPR until first responders arrived, according to police. First responders continued CPR and other “life saving measures,” police said.
An ambulance took the boy to Beverly Hospital where he was stabilized. He was then taken by medical helicopter to a Boston hospital, police said.
The incident is currently being investigated by Beverly police, the department said.
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Two years ago, in his postseason press conference, Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas specifically cited the Washington Capitals as one of two teams that were models for rebuilding without using the hockey equivalent of gasoline and matches to first burn it down.
On Wednesday, Washington completed their second big trade in two days, significantly bolstering their top two lines when they acquired Alex Tuch from the Buffalo Sabres in a sign-and-trade that netted Tuch an $84 million payday and Buffalo a mere third-round pick.
To this point, the Penguins and Washington rebuilds have followed similar paths, though Washington had a good head start.
In the last 24 months, each team has made the playoffs, and each team has seen its AHL affiliate go on an extended AHL playoff run. Washington surprised most by making the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2024-25, and the Penguins surprised most by making the playoffs in 2025-26.
However, it’s in the various states of rebuild that this week, Washington showed the advantage of that head start.
While Dubas stated he wanted to acquire a player aged in his later 20s who was an impact player, it was Washington who pulled the trick by acquiring high-scoring winger Jordan Kyrou from the St. Louis Blues.
Then, with their impact player in hand, Washington doubled down by executing a sign-and-trade with Buffalo for free-agent-to-be Tuch. Washington then lavished an eight-year deal with an average annual value of $10.5 million on the player who turned 30 last month.
A gritty winger, Tuch has scored at least 33 goals in three of the last four seasons as he found a greater role in Buffalo than his bottom-six duty in Vegas.
For those who remark that Tuch’s contract is expensive, don’t forget that the salary cap is going to spike again next season to something close to $113 million, and probably keep going up for years after that. Some estimates say it could be over $130 million in just a few years.
Today’s $10 million is tomorrow’s bargain, just like Rickard Rakell’s $5 million AAV Penguins contract was hefty when he signed it four years ago. Whether or not Tuch’s deal will age well is beside the point–half of the contract will be prime years, and a couple more should be quite serviceable. Washington can worry about 2034, many years from now, when that contract is less than 7% of the salary cap.
Indeed, Dubas had hoped to be able to acquire a Kyrou type. And if he did, a Tuch type would have made sense, too, because the Penguins have nothing in the middle. They have a bevy of 25 and under players, a few players who are at least 33, and still more three players who are 38 and older.
Jason Robertson remains unsigned in Dallas, and perhaps Dubas can leverage the farm for him, though plenty of teams are interested. The simple truth is that Washington was able to go big this year because they started a couple of years ahead of the Penguins. Dubas can play catch-up, but he’s not yet there.
And now Washington has made the huge leap forward. Their top nine is impressive with only two players 30 and older (Tom Wilson, 33, and Tuch, 30). They have four players who are 25 and under (and three were draft picks) with big-time potential who have already had some success in the NHL (Alieksai Protas, Ilya Protas, Ryan Leonard). And 24-year-old Justin Sourdif had 15 goals from the third line this season, too.
Oh, and they have Cole Hutson, thought to be a stud defenseman ready to make the leap. He had 10 points (3-7-10) in 14 NHL games at the end of the season after his Boston U campaign ended.
If Dubas tries to make the big splash, he very likely does not have enough trade capital to acquire a big name and have anything left. Yes, the Penguins have young players like Rutger McGroarty on the way, with Ben Kindel already here, but the depth and quality are not similar.
Yet.
It’s OK that Washington is ahead. It proves that Dubas is on a plausible path and lights the way. Penguins fans should also note that Washington didn’t spend assets too soon, and now they are packed with players under 30, most of whom are 25 and under, and they could easily (and should) send Alex Ovechkin’s call to voicemail when he wants to return.
Dubas was right to emulate Washington, and he would be right to do so when the time is right.
Categorized:NHL Trade Rumors Penguins Trade Talk
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — A new report is highlighting deep economic and racial disparities across Connecticut’s public school districts, ranking the state among the most segregated in the country.
The study by the nonprofit Brown’s Promise found Connecticut has some of the nation’s most pronounced divides — placing sixth worst for economic segregation and 11th for racial segregation.
Researchers measured economic segregation by the percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch.
According to the report, some of the highest concentrations of low-income students are found in districts just miles from the state’s wealthiest communities.
“We provide this measure of how much is it happening between districts, like across those district lines, versus inside districts like what you would find in larger school districts,” said Stephen Owens, a researcher with Brown’s Promise.
The findings may seem surprising, as Connecticut and other Northeastern states show higher levels of segregation than some Southern states that once legally enforced it.
But Owens said those historic boundaries — and the way communities developed — continue to shape access to education today.
“If your schools were built out of like the lines of the towns, the municipality, then it means that the residential patterns, where people choose to live or where they grew up, end up being copied right onto the schools,” he said.
State and local leaders across the political spectrum have long acknowledged with variations of a phrase that has become alarmingly common.
“You are essentially going to attend the school where your ZIP code is,” House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora said.
New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said poverty plays a central role.
“It has nothing to do with the quality of education being provided. It has everything to do with poverty,” Elicker said.
Efforts to address the issue have long been debated at the state Capitol.
To varying degrees, Democrats have pushed for increased education funding, progressives often jousting with moderates about size and scale. Republicans tend to emphasize the charter school model. There is bipartisan agreement that the state’s current education aide system needs to be retooled.
Gov. Ned Lamont acknowledged the challenge, saying the state must continue working toward improvement.
“You’ve got to try every day to do better,” the Democrat said.
The issue is expected to play a major role in Connecticut’s upcoming gubernatorial race, with the three candidates offering their own solutions.
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