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NY MTA unveils campaign to combat hate crimes on buses, trains

Visual campaign promoting kindness, respect and solidarity, follows 42% increase in hate crimes on NYC Transit System in 2019.

January 28, 2020
NY MTA unveils campaign to combat hate crimes on buses, trains

 

2 min to read


New York MTA's new public awareness ads share the message that “hate has no place” in the MTA network. MTA

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) launched a new “Hate Has No Place in Our Transportation System” public awareness campaign aimed at combating hate crimes. The new campaign will appear on digital screens across subways, buses, and commuter railroads promoting kindness, respect, and solidarity.

The campaign comes at a time that the frequency of hate crimes — often taking the form of vandalism that spreads messages of hate — has been increasing.

  • The NYPD Transit Bureau investigated 75 hate crimes in 2019, an increase of 42% over the 53 investigated in 2018.

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  • The number of hate crimes investigated by the MTA Police Department held steady in 2019, declining 3% to 26 hate crimes investigated on the Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad and Staten Island Railway, from 27 the prior year.

MTA Chairman and CEO Patrick J. Foye at a Jan. 27, 2020 press event announcing the launch of a public messaging campaign aimed at combating hate crimes. 

Marc A. Hermann/MTA New York City Transit

The campaign was launched on the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp. The launch of the campaign follows the abhorrent attack on a transgender woman on the C line in Harlem over the weekend.

The ads will appear on more than more than 4,000 Digital Screens Across the NYC Subway, 2,600 screens on buses, and 550 screens on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad.

All ads feature iconic signage associated with the NYC Transit system, LIRR and Metro-North and share the message that “hate has no place” in the MTA network. The ads provide information on how to report hate crimes, concluding with the tagline: “New York rides together.”

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