Thursday’s apparent handshake-deal on NY state spending includes several earmarks for improvements to the NYC public transit system, with nearly $190 million going toward subway safety efforts and mental-health outreach, according to Gov. Hochul’s office.
The budget seeks to expand the Subway Co-Response Outreach Teams (SCOUT) program, in which medical professionals provide help to people in the subway system in need of treatment for severe mental illness. A Hochul spokesperson said the budget deal earmarks $25 million for the program — enough to expand the number of teams from 10 to 15.
The deal is also expected to allocate another $77 million to continue expanded NYPD patrols in the transit network. Where previous allocations were specifically for an overnight police presence, the deployment of additional shifts of officers will now be at the NYPD’s discretion.
In another subway safety earmark, the deal is expected to provide funding to outfit another 85 stations with subway platform barriers, continuing a program that installed the safety structures at more than 100 stations over the past two years. A Hochul spokesman said the hope is to have a total of 200 stations equipped with the passive barriers by the end of 2026.
“New York’s transit renaissance continues,” said Hochul spokesman Sean Butler. “Governor Hochul has delivered for New York’s millions of transit riders time after time, and this year, she secured real wins to make the subways safer and boldly expand our transit system into the future”
In addition to subway safety funding, the budget deal is also expected to pay for work on two transit capital projects featured in Hochul’s executive budget proposal earlier this year.
The handshake puts $50 million in the coffers for a redesign of the LIRR’s Jamaica Station, a major hub that connects LIRR riders to the subway’s E, J and Z trains, as well as to Kennedy Airport’s Airtrain.
The project is expected to improve the flow of passengers through the station, which is the fourth busiest on the continent.
The budget is also expected to include $25 million toward design work for a westward expansion of the Second Avenue Subway, sending it across 125th St. in Manhattan.
A Hochul spokesman said the deal also included an understanding about expediting the state’s environmental approval process for the tunnel design — which could lead to shovels in the ground during the MTA’s next five year capital plan in 2030.
This story has been updated. An earlier version incorrectly characterized the plans to expand subway platform barriers.
