They’re everywhere in the subway system: cameras. But sometimes they don’t work – and State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says an audit conducted by his office found that New York City Transit has problems with maintenance and repairs.
“We owe it to the people of New York and to the passengers to not only mean well, but to maintain the system,” DiNapoli said. “We have to make sure that these surveillance cameras, the alarms and all the other devices that are installed are actually there. And second, they have to work. And we have to do regular maintenance and inspections so that parts of the system don’t fail.”
What you need to know
- An audit by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli shows that New York City Transit prioritizes repairs over preventative maintenance, but even repairs can be delayed
- DiNapoli recommended that NYCT expand its pool of contractors to prevent a labor shortage
- While NYCT accepted the audit’s recommendations, it claimed the auditor had selected some of the most egregious examples from thousands of work orders
The audit found that between 2019 and 2022, out of a sample of just over 1,000 devices, including cameras and intercoms, about 900 were scheduled for preventative maintenance, but the MTA could only prove that 300 were serviced. And when a camera system needed to be repaired, which should have taken less than three days, some repairs took nearly a year.
“There was a combination of reasons. In some cases, it seemed like they didn’t have enough staff to do the job,” DiNapoli said. “So it was really obvious that they needed to make sure they had increased staff to do the maintenance of the safety equipment. It’s one thing to install it, but then you have to actually maintain it and really have the staff to do that when you identify a problem.”
There have been some high-profile incidents where the cameras didn’t work, such as when Frank James opened fire on an N train in Sunset Park in 2022.
In a statement, the MTA said improvements had been made since then, using a familiar refrain: the system has more cameras than a casino in Las Vegas, namely about 15,000 in the stations.
The statement added that New York City Transit is “on track to equip every subway car with surveillance cameras by the end of the year. 99% of the cameras are providing video as designed at all times, with most others out of service for scheduled maintenance.”
All cameras feed images to the dispatch center, where police see them in real time. NYPD dispatcher Michael Kemper said at a July 17 press conference touting the drop in crime on the subway that the cameras are an important tool in fighting crime.
“The question was, ‘Do you think it helps reduce crime?’ Yes, absolutely, 100 percent,” Kemper said at the time.
Although some of that review was done during COVID, when there were labor and supply chain issues, DiNapoli said the problems persist. He says it’s even more important for the MTA to get this under control because capital program funding is at risk, which could impact maintenance in the future.
New York City Transit responded to the audit, saying the company is working to improve visibility into inspection, repair and maintenance records for all of its equipment.
The agency also says COVID played a role in some of the delays, but also found the auditor’s methodology unfair. They claim he selected a small sample of delayed repair orders from thousands and failed to account for problems with specific contractors.
