In December, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced that 500 new officers will be hired to police subway stations across New York City. Implementing this increased police presence will cost the MTA $250 million. The MTA is calling this exorbitant effort a way to improve New Yorkers’ “quality of life.” This is a huge contradiction, as this plan directly harms some of the city’s most vulnerable groups.
The MTA listed a number of reasons why more officers are needed, two of them being fare evasion and homelessness. Living without shelter is not and never has been a crime, and treating people without homes as criminals does not help their situation and actively makes it worse.
Policing the homeless and hurting poor people over a $2.75 fare is far from “improving quality of life.” This action is classist and violent and will only perpetuate harassment of marginalized groups in New York City.
People of color are disproportionately affected by police violence. The majority of homeless and impoverished New Yorkers are also people of color, and the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) undeniable history of violence makes this decision racist and oppressive too.
The “action-oriented movement,” known as Decolonize This Place, has been organizing protests calling for the removal of cops from the subway system, full accessibility and free transit since November.
On Friday, Jan. 31, protestors flooded Grand Central Terminal, marking the third “Fuck the Police” (FTP) demonstration. The protesters then took to the streets and subway stations. Some left anti-cop graffiti throughout various parts of the city and others jumped turnstiles and coated them with Gorilla Glue to keep people from swiping MetroCards. About 15 people were arrested during the demonstrations, most of whom were people of color. The NYPD has claimed no intentional racial profiling, but that’s not something they’d ever willingly admit to.
Social media has played a vital role in these FTP demonstrations, with the protest quickly becoming a trending topic on Twitter. A lot of users criticized the actions taken by protestors (namely the Gorilla Glue on turnstiles), but the anger with the NYPD and the MTA is more than justifiable. Direct action must be taken if anything is going to change.
How can the MTA spending $250 million on cops be considered “improving quality of life” when they can’t even implement working elevators and accessible entrances to every station in the city? Only 36 out of 147 subway stations in New York City are wheelchair accessible; this doesn’t even seem like the bare minimum. But again, policing those in poverty is the real thing to be concerned with here.
Twelve members of the NYPD drawing weapons and chasing down an unarmed black man for fare evasion isn’t an example of building a better New York City. Arresting and fining vendors for trying to make a living is not improving anyone’s quality of life. I’ll take the MTA’s claims seriously when public transit is free and accessible to all.
