The U.S. National Guard is checking bags in the New York City subway, and New Yorkers are confused

Who wanted this?
Credit: Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images

In a move accompanied by little, if any, public support, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has deployed the National Guard to New York City subways in a stated effort to crack down on crime. For New York City residents, all this effort will do is hassle people going about their business and increase the number of armed men and women scrolling their phones in subway stations.

I’ve lived in New York City for a decade now, unlike Hochul, and I’ve never seen a subway issue resolved by law enforcement. Not once. I have, however, seen quite a few officers scrolling their phones and hassling subway performers and unhoused individuals. So you might understand that New Yorkers were rather confused and taken aback by the governor sending 750 National Guard members to check bags and crack down on crime. Not to say there isn’t any crime in New York City — there is, as there is anywhere — but rates are actually quite low. It’s safer here than small-town America.

Late last month, a conductor was slashed during the overnight hours of operation, which prompted transit workers to stage a job action during early morning rush hour. The work stoppage caused significant delays and frustration for commuters. And while that incident was terrible, it’s one among millions of rides.

My local rep Emily Gallagher summed it up well, writing on X: “Ham-fisted and authoritarian response to several terrible incidents (even as the crime rate is falling ) that does nothing to foster real public safety but validates GOP propaganda about urban lawlessness in an election year. In other words, a predictable move by this Governor.”

“The blowback was immediate” to Hochul’s plan, wrote the New York Times. In short: New Yorkers were upset and wondering who, if anyone, asked for this response.

There were serious replies from New Yorkers, but there were also people who unleashed their exasperation through memes. Because what can you do but laugh when the governor deploys a battalion to your city?

There were a lot of jokes about what the National Guard might find searching normal folks’ bags. There were also comments about ways people could mess with this new policy.

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Of course, there were more serious takes because, well, it’s a bit ludicrous to deploy the National Guard to the subway to search bags.

Tweet may have been deleted

So, yes, there are now heavily armed people checking work bags on the subway. Who feels safer by that is entirely unclear. But at least we’ve got something to post about.

Tim Marcin is a culture reporter at Mashable, where he writes about food, fitness, weird stuff on the internet, and, well, just about anything else. You can find him posting endlessly about Buffalo wings on Twitter at @timmarcin.

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