S 4317: Creates the New York city transit authority safety advisory panel to study and report on safety from terrorist acts and to provide a moratorium on the closing of token booths and minimum staffing levels on trains operated in passenger service in the NYC transit system.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4317 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE February 4, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. COMRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation AN ACT to amend the public authorities law, in relation to creating a New York city transit authority safety advisory panel to study and report on safety from terrorist acts and to provide for a moratorium on the closing of token booths and minimum staffing levels on trains operated in passenger service in the New York city transit system The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as 2 the "transit authority passenger security and safety act". 3 § 2. The public authorities law is amended by adding a new section 4 1204-g to read as follows: 5 § 1204-g. Minimum staffing of trains operated in passenger service. 1. 6 The legislature finds that the presence of train conductors and train 7 operators on subway trains operated by the authority is particularly 8 essential to the safety of passengers when emergencies arise including 9 when trains are in tunnels under bodies of water or on bridges, when 10 trains are long or composed of numerous cars, and during periods of 11 heavy passenger volume. 12 2. The authority shall insure that at least one train operator and one 13 conductor shall be deployed on each and every train in passenger service 14 which meets one of the following conditions: 15 a. The train is made up of more than four railroad cars or is greater 16 than three hundred sixty feet in length; or 17 b. The train serves passengers on a line that passes through a tunnel 18 under a river or tidal estuary or on bridges; or 19 c. The train is operating in passenger service on a line where the 20 potential passenger load on the train at any point in time is in excess 21 of seven hundred fifty passengers. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD05575-01-5 
 S. 4317 2 1 § 3. The public authorities law is amended by adding a new section 2 1205-b to read as follows: 3 § 1205-b. New York city transit authority safety advisory panel. 1. 4 a. There is hereby created the New York city transit authority safety 5 advisory panel, to study, monitor and make recommendations with respect 6 to the public safety from terrorist threats and criminal mischief in 7 passenger stations of the authority, its subsidiaries and the Staten 8 Island rapid transit operating authority. 9 b. The New York city transit authority safety advisory panel shall 10 consist of seven members appointed by the governor, of whom two members 11 shall be appointed upon the recommendation of the temporary president of 12 the senate and two members shall be appointed upon the recommendation of 13 the speaker of the assembly. The members of the New York city transit 14 authority safety advisory panel shall be selected from the law enforce- 15 ment, emergency response management, worker and rider advocate communi- 16 ties and shall include at least three members who are commuters who 17 regularly use the transportation services of the authorities referred to 18 in paragraph a of this subdivision. The chairperson shall be a member 19 selected by the membership of the committee. Vacancies occurring shall 20 be filled in the same manner as the original appointments. 21 c. The members of the New York city transit authority safety advisory 22 panel shall receive no compensation for their services but shall be 23 reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance 24 of their duties. 25 2. a. The New York city transit authority safety advisory panel shall 26 undertake a study to evaluate the range of strategies available to 27 ensure the safety of the public, including its ingress and egress from 28 passenger stations, and all means of deterring terrorist attacks and 29 criminal mischief. Such study shall be submitted to the governor and the 30 legislature, and made available to the public, within three years of the 31 effective date of this section. Such report shall be made available to 32 the public immediately following its submission to the governor and the 33 legislature. 34 b. No token booths within the passenger stations of the authority, its 35 subsidiaries or the Staten Island rapid transit operating authority 36 shall be closed or partially closed, except for purposes of repair or 37 renovation or in case of emergency, until the later of July first, two 38 thousand twenty-seven or the date of the submission of the advisory 39 panel's report to the governor and the legislature. 40 3. The New York city transit authority safety advisory panel may 41 request and shall receive from any department, division, board, bureau, 42 commission, agency, public authority of the state or any public subdivi- 43 sion thereof such assistance and data as will enable it to properly 44 carry out its activities and to effectuate the purposes set forth in 45 this section. 46 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.