New York City Is Installing Cameras On All Subways In Order To See The Crazy Shit We Deal With On A Daily Basis

Merten Snijders. Getty Images.

They may not be doing anything to improve the subway from running late but at least now someone will be able see you be annoyed the subway is running late.

SOURCE — Security cameras, which are already ubiquitous on New York’s streets, will soon be installed in all of the city’s nearly 6,400 subway cars as officials work to rebuild riders’ faith in the system’s safety.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to put two cameras in each train car in a project expected to take three years to complete, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Tuesday as she announced the effort at a rail yard in Queens. 

“You think Big Brother’s watching you on the subways? You’re absolutely right,” said Hochul, a Democrat. “That is our intent — to get the message out that we’re going to be having surveillance of activities on the subway trains and that is going to give people great peace of mind.”

Anticipating possible privacy or civil liberties concerns, Hochul said: “If you’re concerned about this, the best answer is don’t commit any crimes on the subway.”

Someone may want to let the governor know that comparing your practices to those in George Orwell's dystopian novel "1984" might not be the best idea, but I digress.

I guess these cameras won't be monitored live but instead recordings will be used afterwards during the investigation of crimes. Even saying that, can you imagine the things those cameras will see? The worst thing I've seen in my life was on a subway. It was late at night a few years ago and a woman got on the train wearing a skirt with huge sores all over her leg. When she went to sit down, a worm/bug creature crawled out of one of the leg sores. It was the size of a maggot but I don't think it was a maggot. It was almost translucent and surprisingly quick once it escaped her leg. These cameras will see shit like that every night all the time.

I'm sure some people reading this will assume New Yorkers will be upset our civil liberties are being taken away but they've been gone for so long, I don't think people will really care. There are cameras recording us here non-stop. There are over 15,000 cameras already in NYC on light posts and buildings watching our every move. That's the social agreement people make when they move to New York City. You lose your personal rights and in exchange you get to pay not only a state sales and income tax but specific city ones on top of that.

The next time I get on a subway and there is human feces smeared all over the floors and seats, at least I'll know that it will be investigated to the fullest extent of the law using facial recognition software. It won't help me that day as I throw up in my mouth while I rush to find a different subway car…but those cameras are on the case.

Editor's Note: There are a million different blogs on Barstool about crazy shit that has taken place on the subway that you can see by clicking that link. But I included this video since it was the thumbnail for the blog.