UWS Vandals Glue MetroCard Readers During Subway Protest: Cops

UPPER WEST SIDE, MANHATTAN — Cops are looking for two people who participated in last week's subway protest by pouring glue into MetroCard readers and chaining a door open at the 96th Street station.

The two straphangers, one of whom was wearing a ski mask, entered the mezzanine area of the 96th Street B and C station just before 4:30 a.m. on Jan. 31, a day of mass civil disobedience in the city's subway system planned by Decolonize This Place.

The two suspects poured glue into MetroCard readers on three turnstiles, chained open a service entry gate and posted stickers throughout the station, police said. They did not specify whether the stickers aligned with the protest, but the actions by the suspects are in line with those taken by protesters throughout the city.

Throughout the rest of the day, protesters unveiled a large, black banner that read "F-- your $2.75" at the World Trade Center station, gave out free swipes at a Bronx subway station, painted over an OMNY machine and chained emergency exit doors open, media posted to Twitter shows.

The rally came a week after the first of 500 new subway cops were sworn in, despite rising protests from straphangers and elected officials outraged over violent subway arrests, many of which shows cops targeting people of color.

Those concerns reached the Attorney General's office, which has launched an investigation into allegations of racial prejudice in subway fare evasion policing.

Anyone with information in regard to the identity of these individuals is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls are strictly confidential.