Last week, two individuals, with their faces covered, vandalized a subway station in Brooklyn, damaging multiple OMNY machines as a protest against the payment system’s supposed connections to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
According to surveillance footage, one person, dressed in flannel, wielded a drill and another tool to dismantle the machines at the Church Avenue subway station, which services the B and Q lines, around 12:40 p.m. on Wednesday. The second individual, fully clad in black, stood on a folding chair to spray paint the ceiling-mounted cameras in the station, as per the video shared on X by activist Calla Walsh.
Overall, authorities reported that seven OMNY readers were compromised during this act of vandalism and that the spray paint obscured approximately four security cameras.
The machines, each valued at about $2,600, totaled roughly $18,200 in damages, according to law enforcement sources.
The footage of the incident displayed a bold message that read: “OMNY SURVEILS, FIGHT BACK.”
At the scene, the vandals left behind two pamphlets. One criticized the OMNY system for allegedly tracking riders’ movements and collecting personal data, stating, “LIVE FREE, RIDE FREE, F–K THE NYPD.”
The other flyer condemned the parent company of OMNY for its alleged links to the Israeli military, declaring, “Every time you tap, you send money to a war profiteer. STOP THE GENOCIDE. FREE PALESTINE.”
According to the MTA, the damaged machines were repaired promptly following the incident. As of now, police have not made any arrests.
