Militarizing Mass Transit

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Friend,

Civil rights on the subway hit a new low this week when Governor Hochul deployed National Guardsmen and the State Police to the subway. After spending months criticizing Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s militarized theatrics on the Mexico border, Hochul evidently decided it was time for her own National Guard stunt.

It didn’t dissuade our governor that crime fell drastically since the pandemic, or that these tactics are destined to fail. Neither does their chilling impact on the Black, Brown, Muslim, and undocumented New Yorkers, many of whom will second guess their subway trip when faced with the sight of soldiers with assault rifles.

But these soldiers aren’t even the worst part of Hochul’s 5-point plan to gut Constitutional rights for riders. The Governor even proposed the prospect of banning some individuals from riding public transit – a scheme that could only be accomplished through a city-wide biometric surveillance network, using facial recognition millions of times each day to check whether we’re deemed fit to ride the rails. This isn’t just creepy, it’s unconstitutional and racist as it uses technologies like facial recognition that have proven to be biased and which have already led to numerous false arrests.

Ultimately, surveillance isn’t safety, but it is a powerful distraction whenever there are alarming crimes in the news. But S.T.O.P. will never get distracted from the threat that these tactics pose to our neighbors and our city.

In Solidarity,
Sarah Roth
Advocacy & Communications Associate

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NewsletterLeticia MurilloMarch 9, 2024