Some New York City subway cars are getting hidden surveillance cameras

Alejandra O'Connell-Domenech | June 24, 2022
·2 min read

Story at a glance

  • The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is rolling out a new pilot program to help combat crime in New York City subways.

  • Under the program, 100 subway cars will be equipped with two cameras hidden to riders.

  • NYPD officers can pull footage from the cameras to collect evidence for crimes and other incidents committed underground.

To crack down on crime, New York City will install hidden surveillance cameras in 100 subway cars as part of a new pilot program.

The program was launched by the city’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority in response to the April 12th shooting in a Brooklyn subway station that injured 23 people, according to Time Out.

After the attack, the MTA came under scrutiny for a lack of security cameras at the 36th street subway station platform, where the shooting took place. In addition, the existing security cameras at the station’s turnstiles malfunctioned at “critical times” during the day, according to NBC New York.

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So far, the MTA has installed hidden cameras on 65 subway cars with the goal of eventually placing two cameras in each subway car.

None of the cameras will be monitored around the clock, according to reporting from the New York Post. But the NYPD will be able to pull footage from the cameras to collect evidence on subway-related crimes and incidents.

“I’ve actually seen some video from the pilot, and they’re very clear, “New York City Transit president Richard Davey told the Post. “It’s a deployable camera. It will record a loop for a period of time, and if there’s an incident on a train, we can get into that camera and get video.”

Cameras will be hidden to subway riders but eventually the MTA will post signs to let passengers know that they are being filmed.

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