The MTA will equip every subway car with two surveillance cameras over the next three years, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday.
“You think Big Brother’s watching you on the subways? You’re absolutely right,” Hochul said during an appearance at the MTA’s Corona Yard in Queens.
“That is our intent to get the message out that we’re going to be having surveillance of activities on the subway trains and that is going to give people great peace of mind.”
The effort will put 13,000 new cameras on MTA trains, building on a pilot program launched earlier this year that put the “hidden” cameras on an initial 100 cars. The cameras will cost $6 million, paid for by a mix of federal and MTA money.
The cameras — which are hidden from public view — are not connected to a central server and cannot be monitored 24/7, but are instead intended to be used by cops to pull evidence of crimes or other incidents that may occur underground.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday that every subway car will have two cameras. Dennis A. Clark
Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks with MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber. Arellano, Juan
The effort will put 13,000 new cameras on MTA trains.
Officials have said there are no current plans to have the cameras watched in real time.
“[The police] grab the video, and very quickly they make an arrest,” MTA CEO Janno Lieber explained on Tuesday. “The message is going to go out — you’re on candid camera, we are filming what you are doing.”
