Remembering the 2017 "Swipe it Forward" Campaign

In 2017, Why Accountability and other New York activist groups joined together to provide free swipes to commuters in the Bronx, East New York, East Harlem, and other places targeted for fare-beating arrests. Demonstrators repeated to commuters and observing police officers that “Poverty is not a crime”, and that it is entirely legal to offer free swipes to fellow commuters. 

NYPD made over 29,000 fare-beating arrests in 2016, costing the city $50 million, though the cost of giving those same offenders a monthly pass for a year would actually cost the New York taxpayers $10 million less.

In response to this, Why Accountability, joined by People Power Movement - Movimiento Poder Popular, took action.