Gov. Hochul was in Albany yesterday for her State of the State speech, but her heart and her head were 150 miles due south in the subway. On behalf of millions of riders, thank you Guv for making underground safety such a priority. We’ve never been a fan of deploying National Guardsmen and random bag checks (both intended to fend off terror) as crimefighting tools, but Hochul offered real concrete measures yesterday, one of them actually embedded in the concrete of the platforms: low-tech barriers to keep passengers from falling or being pushed on the tracks. Also — working with Mayor Adams and the NYPD — Hochul is going to put a uniformed cop on every train between 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. for the next six months. That can only help bring down crime and we all know that seeing a cop in your car at night is always welcome. There’s no price tag on that effort, but if it works, the money will have to be found to continue beyond the initial six months. The chances of becoming a crime victim on the subway remain very low, but crime is real. Felony assaults are up substantially, averaging about 550 on the system in the last three years as opposed to less than half during the previous 15 years. And for the worst crime, 2024 saw a record high number of murders on the subway with 10 killings. Hochul also gets credit for making sure that every subway car on every train has cameras. To keep farebeaters out, the MTA is testing harder to hurdle turnstiles. And as we mentioned, platform edge barriers are being added to more than 100 stations, up from the 15 that now have them. Before they dipped their toe in water with those 15, the MTA insisted that they couldn’t retrofit our ancient subway with floor to ceiling walls, like brand-new systems have and automated airport people movers use, and it would cost a zillion dollars anyway. We argued repeatedly, so what? Install simple shoulder-high fencing at fixed intervals on those platforms where it will work. You don’t need something fancy to prevent a passenger from ending up on the tracks. To better see, Hochul also is funding new LED lighting in all stations. Who can oppose any of this? But there are other steps that will generate resistance, such as keeping people from camping out in the subways. Hochul is spot on in saying: “We cannot allow our subway to be a rolling homeless shelter.” New York City has plenty of real beds in plenty of real shelters. As Petula Clark sang, “Don’t Sleep in the Subway.” If the complaint is that the shelters aren’t safe, then make them safe. However, people with serious mental illness aren’t making rational decisions, which is part of their sickness. Hochul is correct to seek changes in state law to grant doctors greater powers to order involuntary commitment into a hospital for those folks who are not capable of caring for themselves. Living in filth on a subway bench is a prime example. Getting that bill through the Legislature will be a big battle. But it’s one that Hochul must win.