The MTA's hectoring poster campaign aimed at combatting fare evasion is getting a radical makeover, thanks to an anonymous group of New Yorkers with a simple message for their fellow riders: "Don't snitch. Swipe."
Earlier this week, dozens of the unauthorized ads were plastered across subways and platforms throughout the system, reminding straphangers that it's easy and legal to swipe it forward. "Together, we can make a better world," the ads read, accompanied by bullet points noting some reasons a person might not pay the fare.
According to the campaign organizers, who spoke to Gothamist on the condition of anonymity, the posters are a direct response to the MTA's own anti-fare evasion PSAs, which threatened turnstile jumpers with $100 fines and urged riders to close the gate behind them. Those ads appeared in 1,000 subways and close to 5,000 buses earlier this summer, as Governor Andrew Cuomo and top MTA executives ratcheted up their promises to crack down on farebeaters.
"What was really upsetting about this campaign was that it seemed to be an effort to change the empathetic morale of New Yorkers," one of the designers of the new posters told Gothamist. "It's normal to hold the door open when you can. We look out for each other."
Beyond taking issue with "condescending" messaging of the ads, the creators also criticized the transit agency for its punitive approach to transportation access. "This is just broken windows policing in an effort to continue to incarcerate our community," said one organizer. "It's clear that so many people are sick and tired of policing of poor black and brown folks who just want to access public transportation."
The NYPD has been reluctant to release data on fare evasion stops, but a demographic breakdown from last year revealed that 90 percent of fare evasion arrestees and 65 percent of those who received a summons were people of color. In some cases, police are still forcibly detaining those who don't pay the fare.
While New York City Transit President Andy Byford has previously said that he does not want to criminalize farebeating, the agency's own actions seem to indicate otherwise. A few weeks before the MTA launched its anti-fare evasion messaging campaign, Governor Cuomo announced plans to reassign 500 officers to farebeating "hotspots." (Separately from that, the MTA will soon be hiring 500 new transit police officers, after the governor complained of "quality of life issues.")
That crackdown comes amid the MTA's ongoing effort to pin its service woes on funding "lost" to farebeaters—a dubious figure that the agency puts at $215 million annually. A recent review from the MTA's Inspector General Office found that the agency's system for tracking farebeaters was deeply flawed. And later this month, the MTA board will vote on a $54 billion plan to overhaul the subway in the coming years.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the MTA told Gothamist that farebeating was "unfair to the vast majority of New Yorkers who pay the fare. Therefore we are taking appropriate action." He added that those who have trouble affording public transit can sign up for the Fair Fares program, which provides eligible New Yorkers with a 50% discount on subway fares.
While some of the new guerrilla PSAs have been removed, we spotted one on our commute this morning. The creators say they're already planning new waves of installations, after their first attempt was met with overwhelmingly positive feedback from riders.
"I've gotten messages from people saying how their friends, loved ones, themselves have been arrested and how so many folks hate this campaign," the organizer said. "We want to be clear that New Yorkers can directly impact their community for the better in solidarity."
