NYPD Officer Shoves Teen Out of Subway Station in Viral Video

Mayor Bill de Blasio appeared on Hot 97’s Ebro in the Morning to address the incident.

On Thursday, a video of an incident involving NYPD officers went viral. In the clip, a teen accused of attempting to jump the turnstile argues with multiple officers. The event occurred at the Midwood Avenue M stop. A female officer blocks the teen’s path. The conflict escalates to the point the officer pushes the teen out of the train station. Twitter users retweeted the video over 5,000 times. Some pointed out that schools provide students with free MetroCards at the beginning of each semester.

The official NYPD Transit account replied, saying the video doesn’t show the entire incident. “The female attempted to jump the turnstile. The officer then approached her & instructed her to enter properly by swiping her MetroCard. She refused & was physically removed from the station.”

On Friday morning, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio joined Ebro Darden’s Ebro in the Morning Podcast to address the incident. The mayor expressed his disapproval with fare beating but was hesitant to co-sign the officer’s response.

“If it began with the young woman not paying her fare,” de Blasio said, “I don’t like that. I want people to pay their fares and be respectful [to] an officer if an officer questions you.”

The mayor did express concern over the officer’s response. “On the other hand, our officers more and more are being trained to not escalate…something’s off in that video, obviously.”

Ebro and de Blasio discussed New Yorkers’ concerns over gentrification, as well as recent protests in Grand Central Station.

Stream the full interview on Soundcloud.