Fare evasion is not a victimless crime, police and MTA officials have repeatedly asserted in recent years. Last week’s Brooklyn subway shooting, the NYPD says, serves as a prime example.
At the heart of the shooting is a 36-year-old man, now fighting for his life at a local hospital, who instigated a fight with a 32-year-old male straphanger that led to a physical struggle, during which the 36-year-old man wound up being shot in the head with his own gun, which he had pulled out of his jacket moments earlier.
But mere moments before the 36-year-old man wound up shot before a crowd of terrified passengers on board the Manhattan-bound A train at Hoyt-Schermerhorn Streets, police brass said, he managed to enter the subway system by slipping through an emergency exit gate at the Nostrand Avenue station — thus avoiding the required $2.90.
Helmed by Chief of Transit Michael Kemper and Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry, the NYPD charge that they have been continuing to pay close attention to those who don’t cough up the cash for a ride. Yet this is not to merely ensure that the MTA gets every last cent from every last New Yorker.
Barging through emergency gates, leaping over the turnstiles, or simply lifting their legs over or crawling under, authorities say many of those who are willing to bypass a $2.90 fare are also willing to do much worse — as demonstrated Thursday afternoon in Brooklyn.
A man steps over a turnstile at the Hunts Point Station in the Bronx. Photo by Dean Moses
Even though criminal justice advocates have said the crackdown on fare evasion unfairly targets communities of color and leads to unequal policing, the NYPD says that the enforcement is necessary, as it continues to find connections between those who refuse to swipe and those who bring dangerous weapons into the transit system such as firearms and knives, as well as those who have active warrants for serious offenses.
Stopping fare evaders, the NYPD insists, helps save lives.
“We want to send a message to the community that we’re here, we’re engaging people. Everything starts at the turnstile,” Lieutenant Ryota Waki. “Maybe they will think twice about committing crimes in the subways.”
While the A train shooting unfolded in Brooklyn Thursday afternoon, amNewYork Metro was in the Bronx following along a series of plain clothed police operations led by Waki. Taking place at the Hunts Point station, police in civilian clothing pounced as one person after another chose to sneak through the emergency gate or to hop the turnstiles themselves.
A seemingly endless stream of turnstile hoppers visited the Hunts Point station Thursday — so much so they were willing to break the law in plain sight of cops. Even as officers could be clearly observed writing a summons, many more would try their luck only to be snatched up and brought alongside those who did the same, swiftly creating a large line of fare dodgers.
While many were written up for their infractions, several school-age teens were let off with a warning or were permitted access.
“Those are the people we show empathy to. People that carry guns, knives — that have warrants after we run their name for hopping the turnstile, guess what, they get no empathy,” Deputy Commissioner Daughtry said at a recent press conference.
It didn’t take long for the undercover cops to also start cuffing individuals for having active warrants.
In just over two hours at one section of turnstiles in the Hunts Point station, cops gave out 19 TAB (Transit Adjudication Bureau) tickets and 4 summons, and made three arrests. According to police sources, two of those arrested were what they called transit recidivists, and had warrants for criminal mischief; the third arrested individual had what police believed to be crack cocaine and a pipe in his possession.
Commanding Officer of Transit District 12 Alexander Shopiro says these are just minor offenses compared to what they have seen this year already.
“We have four firearm arrests and they stemmed from theft of service violations,” Shopiro said. “Some of the other things we find are brass knuckles and knives. Some of the warrants we have are robbery, warrants for sexual offenses.”
Police attribute every knife or firearm taken out of the subway system as a potential life being saved. Shopiro himself told amNewYork Metro that he sees “a lot of good” coming from stopping those who don’t pay.
Note: some undercover officers’ faces are blurred to maintain their anonymity.
When a gunman entered the New York subway system on Thursday by slipping through an emergency gate at the Nostrand Avenue Station before later being shot in the head with his own gun aboard a Northbound A train, police brass cited the incident as one of the main reasons why they have been zeroing in on fare evaders. Photo by Dean Moses
