I’m curious to hear if others have seen stuff like this at other subway stops, in other cities, and where, as well as if there’s been reporting about it I ought to catch up on… (21/21)

… I start to wonder: was this a version of a tool intended for deployment in places like subway stops for use by DHS in the mass deportation effort Congress recently funded? (20/21)

… or at reporting from @carolinehaskins.bsky.social ‬ @wired.com listing a September 2025 delivery date for a prototype of software due from a subcontractor (Palantir…) which I can imagine being on the other side of that security camera www.wired.com/story/ice-pa... … (19/21)

When I look back at the excellent reporting that folks like @jasonkoebler.bsky.social at @404media.co‬ have been doing about the kind of data to which a rig like this might have access (lots) www.404media.co/inside-a-pow... … (18/21)

Maybe there’s a legal expert out there who can explain whether there’s any precedent for federal uses of surveillance in the subway by DHS like this, and how that fits in alongside use of surveillance by the MTA or NYPD? (17/21)

If none of the equipment being used belongs to either the MTA or the NYPD and instead belongs to the federal government or its subcontractors, how does that influence the legality of surveillance in the subway? (16/21)

The use of surveillance in the subway by either the NYPD or the MTA is a contentious subject with a long history. What about ICE — housed within DHS, a federal department that’s been around for just over two decades, and came about in response to 9/11? (15/21)

I kept thinking about it throughout the week and started to wonder whether what I saw was some kind of new, portable setup for running immigration-related facial recognition stings at subway stops — or anywhere with a lot of people. (14/21)

All I thought at the time was ‘that’s odd, never seen a group like that with a rig like that at a stop before.’ I walked toward the exit, and I turned to try to take a look at the screen, which was obscured by the column. (13/21)

The guy at the laptop seemed focused on whatever was on the screen. He seemed to be monitoring or operating the camera. (12/21)

The whole thing seemed very portable, like it could be setup or taken down within a few moments, and packed into a large backpack. (11/21)

In front of them was an odd rig I’d never seen with a subway crew before: It looked to me like a security camera, about chest height, mounted on a tripod with a wire running to a laptop, which was setup on a small portable table a few feet away and obscured behind a column. (10/21)

All but one were standing idly, although sort of focused, and they were all facing the turnstile and watching people exit the train. It was early afternoon, around 1pm, so it wasn’t crowded. (9/21)

I don’t remember any markings indicating whether they worked for the MTA, the NYC DEP, or some other department that I’m accustomed to seeing at work in subway stations. The absence is notable to me in hindsight (8/21)

It looked like what someone in a bad disguise or cosplaying in a construction role might wear. (7/21)

Underneath the vests, the men looked like they were wearing office clothes — chinos, polos — rather than, say, jeans, coveralls, boots with reinforced toes, or work shirts. (6/21)