Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Subway camera boondoggle

From the Daily News:

This is NYC Transit's fancy new camera - it costs $23,000 and doesn't even record.

A four-year push to hook up hundreds of cameras in 32 subway stations has become an embarrassing boondoggle, with a ballooning pricetag and nothing yet to show for it.

The 910 cameras, designed to capture images of straphangers entering and exiting turnstiles, won't even be wired to recording devices until some time next month.

By then, the pricetag will have grown from $15 million to $21.3 million - meaning each camera will cost a staggering $23,000.

Critics say the bungle is emblematic of how the Metropolitan Transportation Authority repeatedly fouls up technology and security projects, often in dramatic and costly fashion.

And critics fear the foulups are not only a waste of money - they potentially leave the city vulnerable. Nearly nine years after the 9/11 terror attacks, only 46% of the city's 4,100 subway system cameras are wired to working recording devices, the MTA admits.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Get the picture? They didn't!

Anonymous said...

An industrial strength camera costs 3k and with recording devices etc for each station = 6K. I would love to have the profit on 23K as suggested in the article.

Anonymous said...

No one needs cameras, we need living people with guns and/or medical training who can intervene when trouble strikes.

Anonymous said...

Yes, the camera is 3K, the recorder 6K - Now install the conduit, drag power and video cables, hook up said, while following the rules the MTA has in place for safety (Hey gotta have flagmen in case someone has to go to track level) The Union employees don't come free

Rich Parkwood said...

"The Union employees don't come free"

Yes. And they they don't do much work either.

Anonymous said...

Whoever was in charge of the contract for these cameras should be fired. What a rip off. When are taxpayers going to get a fair deal? If the price of the cameras were reasonable, the city would have them up and running already. There's always a crooked politician or administrator that has his hand out. That's why we can't get anything done in this city. It's been 10 years and there's still a hole at ground zero. The twin towers could have been rebuilt with an extra floor if the politicians weren't so money hungry. This administration is disgusting.