Posted on January 31, 2020 at 11:04 am by West Sider

Angry graffiti appeared early on Friday at the 72nd Street station for the B-C line. Several tipsters sent in photos of the graffiti, which included a wide range of expletives cursing the MTA and police.

“At 730 saw it off the train. An MTA employee was scrubbing it. All over the walls and as displays on the downtown platform. Dreadful,” wrote one Upper West Sider in response to the writing.

There has been a backlash to the increased police presence in subway stations that was ordered by Governor Cuomo and the MTA. One Upper West Sider said four police officers were recently patrolling the 1-2-3 station at 96th Street.

The MTA decided to add 500 officers to combat fare-evasion and other crimes, but critics have argued they’re essentially criminalizing poverty — including detaining people selling things like churros. The graffiti, though, doesn’t make any particular arguments about this, beyond expletives.

Update: the graffiti was apparently part of a protest that included a rally at Grand Central.

Patrick Warren, MTA Chief Safety Officer, sent the following statement: