Woke Queens lawmaker Selvena Brooks-Powers says NYPD cops should be required to give flyers to fare evaders
A woke Queens lawmaker is looking to get the jump on fare-beating — by having cops hand out flyers for low-cost transit programsto scofflaws.
A bill introduced in April by City Councilwoman Selvena Brooks-Powers (D-Queens) would require NYPD officers in subway stations to carry leaflets detailing reduced-fare options like Fair Fares and how to apply to the programs.
After fare-beaters are arrested or slapped with $100 tickets for not paying the $2.75 subway fee, cops would then give them the informational literature.
Asked to clarify the aim of the bill, a spokesperson for the Councilwoman Brooks-Powers told the Post: “The legislation is fairly clear.”
Officers, however, are already rolling their eyes at the criminal-coddling proposal.
“The people who are going to [not pay their fare], they’re going to do it anyway,” said one cop of five years at the Bryant Park subway station. “Most of the time it’s repeat offenders who do it in front of us.”
A cop at the Herald Square stop griped, “People think they deserve to get to ride the subway for free. They have a MetroCard and they never use it.”
In 2022, the MTA lost an estimated $500 million to fare evasion on subways and buses, compared to $300 million in 2019 and $150 million in 2017.
“We appreciate Chair Brooks-Powers’ support for transit riders and look forward to reviewing the bill,” said MTA spokesman Eugene Resnick.
A total of 1,897 people were arrested and 47,610 summons were issued for fare evasion in 2022, compared to just 887 arrests and 37,003 summons the prior year.
Observers said the trend needs to be met with serious enforcement.
“If I were a [still] cop, I’d say I didn’t join the police to give out flyers,” said retired NYPD Capt. Edward Mamet. “I think there should be a return to the old system of arresting everybody for fare-beating and running warrant checks — that’s how you’re gonna stop crime on the subway.”
This week, The Post witnessed at least two dozen brazen straphangers jumping the turnstiles or slipping through the security gate across four different Manhattan stations — even as cops were in the process of ticketing fare beaters.
Many of the scofflaws told The Post that being informed by police that they might qualify for half-off subway rides isn’t going to stop them from trying to stiff the MTA.
“A lot of people don’t pay for the subway because they see people sleeping on it,” said Montel Bryant, 28, who jumped the turnstile at 116 Street in Central Harlem.
“I take the train every day at 5:45 and those early hours are demon hours. It’s like, ‘Why should I pay for this?’”
But not everyone thinks the proposed bill should be derailed, with one Rockefeller Center station police officer admitting that he was in favor of “anything that helps” reduce fare evasion.
“We don’t want to give people tickets for our job,” he said, adding that he would rather help people stay out trouble. “Everybody is human.”
