Photo Courtesy of Wiki Commons

UPDATE: It turns out that the only connection between the DNA sample lifted from a subway gate at a recent Occupy Wall Street protest and DNA collected in the unsolved 2004 murder of Juilliard student Sarah Fox was an NYPD lab worker who processed both, the Daily News reported Wednesday.

The matching DNA was found to be the NYPD employee’s, which means that the samples were contaminated. According to the Daily News’s sources, the employee, whose identity has not been released, will likely face departmental charges for failing to prevent tainting.

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It could be straight out of a pulpy crime drama, but this time it’s for real. A DNA sample collected at a recent Occupy Wall Street protest eerily matches DNA collected in the unsolved 2004 murder of 21-year-old Juilliard student Sarah Fox. Does this point to a connection or mere coincidence? Was the DNA lifted at the protest in fact that of a protester, and, further, what would have prompted the NYPD to lift DNA from the scene in the first place?

(by Alissa Fleck)

The sample collected in connection with OWS was found on a chain used to “prop open the gates at an East Flatbush subway station…designed to let straphangers ride for free,” reports am NY. Realistically, the sample could have come from anywhere.

The DNA is a match to that taken from Fox’s CD player, which she brought with her on a jog in May of 2004, immediately prior to her disappearance and murder.

The shared DNA did not hit on any known criminal in the database, reports am NY. Officials are quick not to jump to conclusions, saying it’s possible evidence was simply handled by a common officer in both cases. The sample on Fox’s CD player was never shown to match her case’s primary suspect or any friends or family.

So is it simply coincidence, or is there a more sinister element at play—could this discovery provide renewed hope for the 8-year-old unsolved murder?

Dr. Lawrence Koblinsky, a forensics expert at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, told NBC New York, “the likelihood is high the person who left that DNA on the CD player is the killer of Sarah Fox.”

The link is odd and serendipitous enough as is, but additionally strange seems the decision to collect DNA evidence in the case of an OWS protest. The collection of DNA in an isolated incident like this one begs the question of when it is protocol for the NYPD to collect a DNA sample. What sort of cost does it incur and how useful is it, in most cases?

The NYPD’s press office did not immediately respond to requests for such information, but the New York State Legislature reached an agreement on a bill in March of this year which would allow for the collection of DNA from those convicted even of misdemeanors. WNYC reported this would make NYS the first “all crimes DNA” state in the country, according to Governor Cuomo.

“DNA collection is one of the most reliable and cost-effective tools that we have in law enforcement,” Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said in a statement.

While this may not directly apply to this particular case, it shows New York’s heightened emphasis on the importance of DNA collection, even in cases where it might seem largely unnecessary. Still, many questions remain unanswered in this stranger-than-fiction discovery.

Straphangers wiggled through a throng of MTA officials, elected representatives and press to access the new 96th Street station house—an above-ground entrance to the No. 1, 2 and 3 trains that sits on the Broadway median, between West 95th and 96th streets.

“It’ll be a showcase for the organization,” said Jay Walder, chairman and CEO of the MTA.

Inside the new station house. Photos by Andrew Schwartz

The full 40-month, $98 million project will be completed this fall, but the station house opened April 5, simplifying commuter access to trains. Previously, riders had to walk down a flight of stairs to get below platform level, then up a staircase back to the platform. Now, riders can walk to the platform without going through a labyrinth in the train station. The West 96th Street sidewalk entrances have been closed permanently.

The new station was influenced by the West 72nd Street station in Verdi Square, on the Broadway median. The West 96th Street station house features granite blocks and benches for pedestrians.

Council Member Gale Brewer, who represents the West Side between Columbus Circle and West 96th Street, said the new station will be a destination similar to Verdi Square.

“It’s something people will gather toward,” she said outside of the station. “We hope it stays clean.”

That, too, is a concern for the MTA. Walder, the head of the transit authority, said there will be a maintenance program to keep up the new station.

“It’s clear we haven’t been able to do that for a long time,” he said. “The issue is keeping it in this condition.”

Now that the station house is open, construction will focus on other projects, including rehabilitating the West 94th Street sidewalk entrances and installing ADA-accessible elevators, which other express stops along the 1, 2 and 3 lines offer.

“This opens a whole new corridor for people who travel from 100th Street down,” said Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal.

Rosenthal added: “We have concerns with the MTA budget and completion of capital projects, but on the Upper West Side, we’re glad.”

The opening of the station house—and the fact that construction is on schedule—gave the beleaguered MTA a boost after voting on service cuts to balance its budget. Other capital projects, like the East Side’s Second Avenue subway and Fulton Street station, have been behind schedule.

Sen. Perkins, who chairs a committee that oversees the MTA and other authorities, said the opening of the new station should restore some of the public’s confidence in city transit.

“Projects are in the pipeline and get clogged—that’s the perception,” Perkins said. “This restores some faith, that when the MTA wants to, they can be successful.”