NYPD Cameras Record a Crime.

Not in the subway.

Never in the subway.

The NYPD's Transit Bureau seems to place satisfying the MTA lawyers above protecting the riding public.

MTA lawyers would not like cameras that record unwitnessed violent crimes. Cameras would interfere with their "blame the victim" tactic, a very successful tactic.

That seems to be the only plausible reason for the failure to install cameras where they would be able to record subway assaults.

But there are no MTA attorneys involved when crimes occur on the street.

So in this case there are NYPD cameras and the assault was recorded:

Gazi Rahman, 46, was walking on Hillside Avenue near Parsons Boulevard at around 8 p.m. on May 7 when he was approached by Christopher Porr, 39, of Fresh Meadows, according to the criminal complaint and an NYPD video shared by his lawyer.

From an article by Katie Honan (her email address: khonan@dnainfo.com) in DNAInfo.com. 

I wish Mr. Rahman good luck and hope that some day people assaulted on subway platforms, including those pushed to their deaths on the tracks, will have their crimes recorded by NYPD cameras.

MTA usually pays nothing for people hit by trains

I believe this 2013 Daily News article by Pete Donahue is worth reading in its entirety.

The MTA doesn’t issue an apology when someone is hit by a subway train — and it doesn’t whip out the checkbook, either.

About 90% of the 92 “man-under” lawsuits that were resolved in the last five years ended in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s favor, according to a breakdown by the MTA.

The MTA didn’t pay a dime in 73 of those cases. It dispensed with another nine cases with paltry go-away payments averaging $40,000, according to the authority’s information. Five big cases did result in payoffs totaling $33 million.

I wonder if the MTA lawyers would be that successful without the NYPDs immediate and seemingly automatic conclusion that "criminality is not suspected" in unwitnessed track fatalities.

Although Donahue (his email address) does not mention the NYPD Transit Bureau in this article, if its commander places the interests of the MTA above his duty to investigate suspicious violent deaths that would explain the utterly bizarre occurrence of so-many late night fatal "accidents." 

Another Late Night "Accident"

Ho hum.

 Man struck, killed by 1 train in Washington Heights

An unidentified man was fatally struck by a train in Washington Heights early Friday, witnesses and police said.

The man was found lying on the tracks of the northbound 1 train at the 168th St. subway station, police said, when he was hit. Paramedics arrived to the scene, but the man couldn't be saved.

"The guy fell and I guess the train couldn't stop," said a witness, who didn't want to give his name.

The victim's name has not been released pending family notification, officials said.

No criminality is suspected, police said.

Another article:  Man Lying on Tracks Fatally Struck by 1 Train in WaHi, Police Say

with this additional detail:

The 51-year-old man ...was on the tracks [at] about 1 a.m

Just another wacky middle-aged passenger doing what the NYPD claims is normal in the very late hours: putting himself in harm's way

Did that anonymous "witness" actually see the victim fall or was that just an NYPD-encouraged surmise?



Note to the victim's family: your chances of suing the MTA successfully are zero.

As I said, ho hum.

Man Struck by Train While "Lying on Tracks"

 Man Hit by Train Injures Leg in Park Slope, Police Say

 
By Aiden Gardiner

BROOKLYN — A man's leg was injured when he was hit by a train while lying in the subway tracks of the Fourth Avenue-Ninth Street station Tuesday morning, police said.

The man, who is in his 50s, was lying in the tracks about 4:48 a.m., when he was hit, an NYPD spokesman said.

and ...

Investigators don't believe he's the victim of a crime, an NYPD spokesman said.

The actions of this man confirm that--according to the NYPD--many people who use the subway in the dead of night behave most strangely, putting themselves at risk of injury or worse.

Of course, the management of the MTA, with the apparent concurrence of top police officials, have ensured that there are no surveillance cameras installed, cameras that could have recorded how this victim ended up on the tracks. And the near-instantaneous conclusion by the NYPD that no crime was committed follows a years-long pattern that no doubt pleases the MTA managers including, especially, their attorneys.

One wonders what this victim--who "suffered a leg injury"--would say to investigators who were not members of the NYPD.

Sexual Assault Prevented by Surveillance Camera!

By Audrey Williams and Tina Moore 

A woman was saved from a predawn sex assault on the Christopher Street PATH platform Sunday when a security officer saw it unfold on a surveillance camera — and demanded over a loudspeaker that the attacker stop.

The stunned man complied, halting his attack on the 31-year-old victim at about 4:45 a.m.

The same PATH Security Operations officer quickly summoned Port Authority police, and the suspect, Andres Rodriguez, 33, of Hackensack, was arrested.

The woman was treated at an area hospital.

Here's the link.

Wow!

A surveillance camera prevents a violent crime in a New York City rail transit facility.

How could this happen if I claim the NYPD is opposed to anti-crime cameras?

Am I wrong?

Should I apologize?

Sorry folks, no apology will be issued.

PATH stations are NOT under the control of the NYPD.

The Port Authority Police is a separate department.

Person struck by F train in Queens

As reported in The Daily News: 

A person is in critical condition after being struck a train in Queens early Sunday, police said.

The victim was hit by the F train just after the Parsons Blvd. train station at 2:09 a.m. in Jamaica, officials said. It's not immediately known if the victim was taken to a nearby hospital.

Cops were on the scene investigating if the person was the victim of a crime.

1. The early morning hours are favored by the thugs who prey on passengers.

2.  The "police" investigating were likely from the Transit Bureau.

3.  Based on their record I think the police will conclude there was no crime, confident that there are no surveillance cameras that recorded the incident.

4.  If there are no further media reports on this event, be assured that the police did their job: the victim will be entirely responsible for his/her injuries. The MTA lawyers will be pleased.
      

Vic Nicastro for New York Daily

Surveillance Video of Subway Rapist!

Never in New York City.

But in Washington DC:

According to an arrest document signed by Metro Transit Detective C.H. Dorrity, investigators used high-definition surveillance video inside the Glenmont station, records from the suspect’s Metro SmarTrip card, and the woman’s recollection to identify Hicks.

The MTA and the NYPD have a strong aversion to cameras in the subway.

Their absence has even been noted in The Daily News and The New York Times.

I am convinced that the main reason NYC officials do not want anti-crime cameras is that they would interfere with their "see no evil" approach whenever unwitnessed track deaths occur. Without cameras the police can blame the dead person as they did in twenty-five (!) cases in 2012.

Of course the MTA has installed lots of cameras aimed at preventing the one crime they consider more important than murderous assaults on passengers: there are lots of cameras aimed at potential fare-beaters. 

Investigation Complete! The Dead Man Was Responsible for His Death!

Yesterday I posted an article from the Daily News with the headline "Police Investigating Death of Straphanger Found Between Subway Cars: NYPD."

Today the News has posted a new article with this quite different headline "Subway-surfing man, 24, dies after hitting head on F train, losing consciousness." I quote the article in full:

"A 24-YEAR-OLD man was killed after hitting his head while “surfing,” possibly atop a train rumbling through Brooklyn early Friday, authorities said.

"James A. Rubio was found unconscious, lying between two cars, by a passenger on a Queens-bound F train at the Jay St./MetroTech station in Downtown Brooklyn about 2:30 a.m., police said.

"Rubio, who lived in Queens, was rushed to Brooklyn Hospital with head trauma, but could not be saved.

"An official for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said the doomed man hit his head while riding on the outside of a subway car — possibly on top, officials said.

""Rubio hit his head on a low hanging piece of metal as the train entered a tunnel", officials said.

"An autopsy has been scheduled, officials said.

"The MTA has repeatedly warned commuters about the dangers of surfing along the side or on top of subway cars."

Here are my questions and observations:

Did anyone see Mr Rubio climb up to the roof of the car, or is the "he was surfing" explanation a product of the NYPD's Transit Bureau?

What investigation was conducted? Were passengers on the train interviewed? Did anyone look for blood on any obstruction, something a "surfer" may have struck?

It is my impression that "surfing" in the subway is mainly practiced by teenagers who do it in groups. Mr. Rubio, a 24-year-old, was apparently traveling alone.


Subway criminals like to attack during the off hours when there are few witnesses. Mr Rubio was killed at 2:30 am.

If the police file a report claiming he was killed while "surfing" what are the chances that his family could successfully sue the MTA for damages? (How do you spell zero?) As I've already noted, the MTA is quite proud of its record of  rarely paying in suits by survivors of lethal subway "accidents."

I would love to know more about Mr Rubio. Was he employed? Did he have any history of "surfing?"

Added on May 10, 2006:

He was an electrician, per the New York Post.

Deciding to ride on top of a subway car while traveling alone at 2:30 in the morning is just the sort of thing an employed skilled laborer would not do.  

Police Investigating Subway Death

Police Investigating Death of Straphanger Found Between Subway Cars: NYP

by Trevor Kapp

Police are probing the death of a straphanger whose body was found with head trauma between cars of a Coney Island-bound F train early Friday morning.

The 24-year-old man was discovered between the cars at the Jay Street-MetroTech station around 2:30 a.m., police said.

 ... The man was transported to Brooklyn Hospital, where he died, the NYPD said.

Observation:

1. Thanks to the MTA and the NYPD's Transit Bureau, there are no cameras on New York"s  subway trains; the criminals responsible for this man's death will probably not be arrested even if the Transit Bureau, headed by Joseph Fox, does conduct an "investigation."

2. If the persons who attacked this young man had thrown him off the train would the NYPD have announced an "investigation" or would they simply have blamed the victim for having walked between the cars as they did in the case of  Lorraine O'Garro?

3. Once more an unconscious passenger didn't fall from a moving train, putting "lie!" to the NYPD/MTA oft-repeated assurance that conscious passengers routinely fall to their deaths while walking between cars.

4. Despite the routine classification of all un-witnessed track killings as "accidents"the post-midnight hours are favored by subway killers which prompts this question: does Joseph Fox tell his young-adult relatives that the subways are safe to use at all hours?  Does the Transit Chief actually believe all those "accidents" were accidents?

 

Twenty-three Thousand Surveillance Cameras Installed!

A report of a recent assault on a young woman in a Chicago train includes a statement by the Chicago Transit Authority that included the following paragraph.

CTA has more than 23,000 security cameras across all stations, buses and trains; it's one of the few system-wide networks in the nation and has proved to be an invaluable tool for police investigating crimes committed on or near CTA property. In fact, the cameras are a contributing factor behind the 25 percent decrease in crime reported across CTA properties in 2015 - the fourth straight year that crimes have decreased on the CTA.

Why doesn't the leadership of the NYPD demand that thousands of cameras be installed in the New York transit system?

Here's what I think: such cameras would record criminals killing victims in track homicides, jeopardizing the "no evidence of foul play" mantra automatically played by the NYPD when such violent deaths occur and there are no civilian witnesses. Cameras would make life difficult for the MTA's lawyers (it would be really hard to convince a jury that a murder victim was responsible for his own death) and I think keeping those lawyers happy is more important to NYPD's leadership than is protecting passengers from violent, even murderous, thugs.