New state law calls for more MTA subway surveillance cameras
An MTA police officer stands at the Subway train entrance at Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan on Oct. 28. Credit: Craig Ruttle
ALBANY — More surveillance cameras are expected to be installed at all subway stations under a new law named for a Brooklyn man who was fatally struck at a platform.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed Sedrick’s Law — named for Sedrick Simon who was killed in 2019 at the Newkirk Avenue station in Brooklyn when he was struck by a train. The circumstances surrounding his death is still unknown. Simon was struck in a part of the platform that wasn’t covered by surveillance cameras.
The bill’s Brooklyn sponsors, Sen. Kevin Parker and Assemb. Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, proposed that the MTA be required to place cameras on platforms. But in legislative committees, the bill was amended to provide more flexibility to the MTA in locating the cameras. .
The MTA already has thousands of cameras installed at subway stations in various locations, according to an authority spokesman.
The MTA didn’t provide an estimated cost for complying with the new law nor say how many more cameras would be installed.
"The amendments to the law give some flexibility to the MTA in locating the cameras," Hermelyn said. "With ongoing major MTA transit system redevelopment projects, granting some flexibility to the MTA in locating the cameras is reasonable."
“We appreciate the Legislature’s support for the MTA’s ongoing camera security program that already has installed cameras in all 472 subway stations,” said Tim Minton, MTA communications director. “We agree that having cameras throughout the system serves as deterrent to crime and material support for investigating crimes that occur and for catching those responsible.”
The MTA said it now has more than 11,000 cameras in the subway system so far under an ongoing program. Of those cameras, about 5,100 feed live video to the New York Police Department and the New York City Transit Police security command center. The rest record images, but don’t transmit them live.
In September, the MTA announced it would install surveillance cameras on all of its nearly 6,500 subway cars. It was part of the effort to address widespread concerns about safety in the transit system, officials said.
Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.
