Amid Violent Subway Crime Fears, MTA's Focus Jumps To Fare Evasion

NEW YORK CITY — Fare evasion in New York City's subways isn't just a minor annoyance — it's a sign of societal breakdown.

Or at least that was the message conveyed by MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber during the transit agency's board meeting Wednesday.

Disorder of all kinds in the city's transit system, beyond a recent spate of violent crimes, is ripping apart the social fabric between New Yorkers, he said.

"One of the things that's eroding the sense of order and fairness in our system, and maybe in our society at large, is seeing other people enter through the emergency gates or walk by the bus operator without paying the fare, or obscure their license plate, or get a fake out-of-state license plate so they don't have to pay tolls," he said.

Lieber's depiction of turnstile jumping as akin to an apocalyptic threat came as he announced a new "blue ribbon panel" devoted to tackling fare evasion.

It also came two weeks after a mass shooting in a Sunset Park subway station that left 23 people injured and stoked growing fears about violent crime in the subway system.

Mayor Eric Adams has pledged to increase the NYPD's presence in subways and platforms — and Lieber said MTA officials have seen those patrols go up 34 percent.

But Lieber, in his discussion, shifted focus toward fare evasion — a long-standing annoyance for MTA board members. He admitted it seemed "airy-fairy" compared to concerns over safety, but claimed tackling the problem is about repairing the social fabric.

"The system only works when everybody contributes," he said. "Honest and hardworking New Yorkers, many of them on fixed incomes are telling us that they are outraged and demoralized when they see people who are better, as I say, carrying $7 lattes — and we have this on video — waltzing through the emergency exit gates.

“It makes customers feel like suckers and it makes them wonder, ‘Why should I pay the fare,’” he said.

Critics argue that fare evasion crackdowns unfairly target people of color or criminalize poverty.

And Lieber tried to assuage those fears. He said the panel will look at better turnstile design and "porous" emergency exits.

Fare evasion should not be a crime of poverty, so affordability and social justice will both be parts of the panel's focus, he said.

"This is not a fare evasion crackdown," he said. "This is trying to develop a new strategy for how do we arrest what is growing and, I think is, at the verge of becoming an epidemic."

"My hope is that the panel will point the way to a system that does not criminalize young people who make mistakes and who need to be… given a little education rather than a huge fine that could build up over time,” he said. “But really to focus on the effort on recidivism and real criminals, violent criminals who are a threat to our passengers.”

The blue ribbon panel will finish their study this summer, Lieber said.