The robot, touted as a “cost-effective” way to keep New York City subway riders safe, is sitting in storage after part of a pilot program to bring it to Times Square Station was successfully completed. .
Last year, Mayor Eric Adams made not one, but two public announcements about Nightscope K5.The 5-foot-3, 400-pound robot was equipped with cameras on all sides to monitor the 42nd Street subway station. mezzanine. A help button was also provided for the rider to press in case of an emergency.
The city leased K5 for a total of $12,250 and it was installed in the Times Square subway from midnight to 6 a.m. for two months. Although he’s probably fudging the numbers a bit, Adams claimed the costs amount to what he calls a bargain price of $9 an hour. “This is less than minimum wage, no bathroom breaks, no meal breaks. It’s a good investment,” Adams said in September.
As is often the case with quick-fix gimmicks, the K5 seemed to be little more than a novelty feature on the subway.Recent new york times The report claimed that riders rarely used it for safety. When they operated it, they usually used it to take selfies or try to cause damage.
“I thought it was a toy,” claimed Derek Dennis, a 56-year-old signal engineer quoted by the Times.
Albert Fox Kahn, executive director of the Surveillance Technology Surveillance Project, previously referred to it as a “trash can on wheels,” later joking: “At this point, it looks like the wheels aren’t even working.” .
While the trash cans are useful even when the wheels aren’t working, the K5 doesn’t seem to have brought safety to the station or cost savings to the city.For one thing, it’s always been that way. Two police officers stand on both sides I’m making quite a bit more than $9 an hour. Two such officers who spoke to the Times earlier this month claimed they had never seen K5 “on the scene.”
Security guard Kelvin Keynes told the Times a similar story. K5 police “will never let you do anything,” he said. “At least you could walk down the hall.”
The NYPD also seemed to tacitly admit that the K5 trial was a failure. During his recent video montage showcasing all the new and exciting technology the department has used in the last year, K5 didn’t appear once.
Still, K5 was deployed in just a six-month test program overall, and a spokesperson for Mayor Adams said the robot completed its mission in Times Square in December on schedule.
“The Adams Administration is constantly seeking innovative technologies that can advance the work we have done to combat crime and keep New Yorkers safe, while maximizing taxpayer dollars. Charles Luttwak said. “We are exploring options for the next deployment of K5 as part of the pilot.”
Nightscope spokeswoman Stacey Stevens declined to comment on the future of K5 in New York City. “Unfortunately, we are not authorized to speak about specific customers,” she told the Times. We hope for your understanding.
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