Commentary

Random searches in NY

Commuters arriving at the subway station near 42nd Street and 8th Avenue during the morning rush today were met with this greeting from a police sergeant bellowing into a white bullhorn: “Attention passengers: All purses and bags in the subway system are subject to inspection. If you do not agree to inspection, you must exit the system.” This is the reality of life for commuters in New York City on the day after London suffered its second bomb scare in two weeks. Police here began random searches last night of backpacks and packages carried by commuters on the city’s subways and on area rail lines, and New Yorkers for the most part seemed to take it in stride.

Read on, here. For more on new hassles confronting Big Apple straphangers, go here.