NYC straphangers cheer Hochul vow to put cops on overnight subways but plan remains unclear

Mind the gap.Straphangers tentatively cheered Gov.Kathy Hochul’s plan to put New York’s Finest on every overnight subway train Wednesday — but it remained unclear how the NYPD would manage to staff the new effort, or when it would start.Cops panned the late-night subway surge — announced during Hochul’s “State of the State” speech Tuesday — as “totally unrealistic” in light of dwindling NYPD numbers and a clampdown on overtime.“This is a classic case of robbing Peter to pay Paul,” a Brooklyn cop told The Post.

“If they put more cops in the subway, they will be taking them from patrolling the streets — leaving the streets less safe.”Subway riders who spoke to The Post greeted the plan with more hope, albeit mixed with some skepticism.Martin Canelo, 41, a baker who takes an overnight N to get to work from Brooklyn, said he regularly sees homeless people smoke crack or shoot up heroin during his early morning commute.

For his safety, he only rides in cars with conductors.“You don’t know if you are going to get robbed, shot.I don’t want to see another person set on fire on the train,” he said.

“If I feel sleepy, I get up and stand up.“Something has to be done, they have to try something… But I want to see it in place first.Let me see how it plays out,” he said.How exactly the surge will work remained unclear a day after Hochul’s platitude-heavy speech, which left out many key details — including when the initiative would begin or how much it would cost.“I want to see uniformed police on the platforms, but more importantly, we will put an officer on every single train, overnight – 9 p.m.

to 5 a.m – over the next six months and the state will support these efforts financially,” Hochul said Tuesday.NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, in a subsequent statement, said Hochul’s proposal “will allow us to put more officers on the trains, including two officers on every overnight train.” Neither Hochul’s office n...