The new regulation amended this rule by adding that the use of the subway system for certain non-commercial activities such as public speaking; distribution of written materials; solicitation for charitable, religious, or political causes; and artistic performances accepting donations were permitted. However, certain restrictions were to be imposed, such as that solicitation was prohibited on subway cars, in areas not generally open to the public, within 25 feet of a token booth, within 50 feet of the entrance to an authority office or tower, or in any area that would interfere with access onto or off an escalator, stairway, or elevator.
When this amendment went into effect in October 1989, the Transit Authority started Operation Enforcement, a program intended to implement the long-standing prohibition on begging and panhandling in the subway in a more effective way. The first step was the distribution of some 1.5 million pamphlets detailing the rules
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