Subway Bag Checks Will Return As NYC Transit Crime Rises: Mayor

NEW YORK CITY — Bag checks soon will return to New York City's subways, Mayor Eric Adams said.

Adams let slip Tuesday during a news conference that searches by NYPD officers are being revived as a security measure amid a recent uptick in subway crime.

"We are reinstituting bag checks," he said.

"That's going to resume probably in the next week or so."

Hizzoner didn't have many details about what stations or how the checks will be conducted, although he alluded to tests of metal detectors and other technology that can detect weapons.

Adams said some version of bag checks always took place, but it could be "elevated" going forward.

But regular bag checks, whether high- or low-tech, will be a revival of a feature of post-9/11 life in New York City.

The culprit in this case, however, has been a recent rash of high-profile crime in the subway system.

Transit crime jumped 45 percent in January, a rise that officials argue coincided with the rollback of NYPD officers in the subways.

And New Yorkers have been rattled by a spate of fatal shootings and shovings, including a man who was kicked onto the tracks Sunday.

Adams argued that police need to be more visible in the subway system. He said state money funding the surge of NYPD officers in the subways has run out.

"We asked for more money," he said, hinting a deal could be in the works to fund more cops in subways.