The Surge in Subway Scalping
When asked about whether or not he sees a lot of law enforcement in the Bronx, Jefri responds, “There’s always cops in the Bronx. Yeah. I see them more now, I feel, actually. Well, we’ve had this problem. Well, I don’t know if it’s a huge problem. But there’s people who like to sell metrocards at the subway, you know, they sell swipes. I don’t know how they’re getting the metrocards, but they’re definitely turning out profit. Um… and that’s illegal. And… so… there’s more cops there. Also, like, sometimes depending on the subway you go to… I don’t know. They might be unsafe. It gets dark at night. I do see a lot of cops. I don’t think that’s really changed.” According to the article, “The Art of the Swipe,” swipe scalpers "make money in several different ways… they can buy a weekly or monthly Metrocard and sell a swipe at a discounted price of $1-2” [12]. Furthermore, The Bronx Journal states that “one explanation for the increase in swipe activity is that the MTA has had to close or reduce staff in some Bronx station booths… [thus], criminal activity in these stations goes up as they go unattended” [13]. Due to the lack of MTA personnel stationed in the Bronx, “swipe scalpers” have flourished throughout the area. The increased policing of these scalpers has caused many of them to “spend up to 90 days in jail [and] prior to 2011, the sentence was a whole year” [14]. This form of broken windows policing specifically harms communities of color who are simply trying to profit off of swipes as MTA prices continue to surge.