NEW YORK (WABC) — Both Gov. Kathy Hochul and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch are pushing back against the idea of National Guard troops coming to New York City.
On Monday, Tisch met with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and her message was clear. In that meeting, Tisch said there is no need for the Trump administration to send in the National Guard as it has done in Washington, D.C.
On Tuesday, Hochul held a news conference where she revealed to reporters she recently had a phone call with President Donald Trump in an apparent attempt head off deployments of federal troops in New York City.
She said she is calling out the president who is insisting that crime in New York is raging.
“I said Mr. President, I can give you all the data you need to show that crime is down, it’s working, our policies are working, NYPD is doing their job, we did our job in the state legislature to tighten up laws that had gone way too long being loose, and not protecting the people of the city and the state,” Hochul said.
Hochul’s point is that crime is trending lower in just about every major category for year over year.
Despite their phone call, Trump said he is considering deploying federal troops to New York City like in Washington.
Soldiers there have been given the power to make arrests and are carrying military-grade weapons.
The governor was asked how the president’s actions differ from what she did when she deployed the New York National Guard to the subways in March of 2024.
Her response was the mission was specific in purpose, it wasn’t open-ended and intended to be a deterrent.
“At a time when crimes were going up and people were very anxious about taking the subway and I needed to do something dramatic, I said that I can have a physical presence, not in a law enforcement capacity, very clear the difference of what is happening in Washington is those people are being told to carry their guns and arrest people,” Hochul said.
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