The head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), Janno Lieber, wants the city’s district attorneys (DAs) to aggressively prosecute serial fare-beaters – a practice the Manhattan District Attorney’s office has mostly declined to charge since 2018. In January, Lieber called for DAs in Manhattan, Brooklyn and The Bronx to crack down on fare evaders with “theft of services” charges – a class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail. The MTA said that fare evasion cost the agency more than $600 million in 2023, and Lieber wants persistent fare-dodgers to be held accountable as a deterrent.
Source: Crain’s New York Business
