Cameras Installed At All NYC Subway Stations

New York City NY

13 September, 2021

4:19 PM

Description

NEW YORK CITY — Smile, straphangers— you're on camera at all 472 subway stations. The installation of cameras Saturday on the Broadway G line brought security coverage to the last subway station without it, MTA officials said. "We at the MTA, together with the NYPD, are driven to deliver a safer and more high-level quality of life experience in the subway system and these cameras are a big part of that," Patrick Warren, MTA's chief safety officer, said in a statement. "If you are a criminal who preys on those who use our system, you will have your image captured and be put on the express track to justice. The image will be delivered to the police, and the police will use it to find you." Subway safety has become an increasing concern for MTA officials and many straphangers during the coronavirus pandemic. A spate of high-profile attacks in the subway put those long-simmering fears into focus. Sarah Feinberg, the city transit agency's interim chief, blasted Mayor Bill de Blasio over the attacks and called for an increased police presence. "The mayor must act," she said in May. De Blasio, for his part, accused Feinberg and his longtime nemesis then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo of political fearmongering. The subways are overwhelmingly safe outside those isolated incidents, he said. The camera installation effort was underway as the mayor, governor and MTA officials sniped at each other. Feinberg had kicked off the effort by identifying new cameras that could be installed more quickly and at a lower cost, officials said. In total, 200 stations gained security camera coverage, according to the MTA. Major felonies on the subways have fall 20.6 percent in 2021 through August, according to the MTA. Arrests increased 28.6 percent over that same time.