In a cost-saving move, state and Army officials quietly withdrew 150 National Guardsmen patrolling some of the city’s most sensitive transportation hubs during the past year, The Post has learned.
Security forces will no longer “walk a beat” on high-risk subway lines, train stations, and at JFK and La Guardia airports. A massive reorganization will instead place them at the call of the NYPD and Port Authority Police Department, Guard officials confirmed.
The soldiers will be deployed out of Brooklyn’s Fort Hamilton to selectively respond to heightened terror alerts or other emergencies or as cops need reinforcements, said Guard spokesman Eric Durr.
Officials insist that the reduced, but reorganized staff will be able to cover more locations, faster, than when Guardsmen had to patrol assigned details.
“We are at more locations now because we’re not tied to specific facilities,” said another Guard spokesman, Richard Goldberg.
“You’ll still see us at Penn Station and the airports, but you’ll also see them at critical transport sites, like bus terminals.”
At this time last year, the National Guard had 430 soldiers based in the city — now there are 280.
The drawback is expected to result in cost savings to the state.
In the last fiscal year, the security forces were allocated about $27 million. Since April 1 this year they’ve only taken up about $7 million — on pace for about $16.8 million in the next 12 months.
But Goldberg cautioned the numbers could change.
Despite the Guard’s assurances, commuters are still wary of losing the uniformed soldiers they regularly saw on patrol.
“Since [the] 9/11 [anniversary] is coming up, I think its a good idea for them to beef up security. Not decrease it. Just to make passengers feel a little relief,” Bethany Ross, 28, a student and LIRR rider said while traveling at Penn Station.
Others said it was clear the Guard had gone through some type of drawdown.
“I notice them sometimes at the main entrance. But I rarely see them anymore. Not having them present will makes me feel uneasy,” said Donna El-Maadawy, 55, an administrative assistant.
“You just never know when we may need them.”
Still, some New Yorkers said they never noticed the troops — which means they won’t miss them now that they’re reassigned.
“For me, I don’t feel scared,” said Clinton Robinson, 68, a retired World Trade Center worker. “I never see the National Guard.”