The New York Post got us all excited this morning with the first sneek peak at the new subway cams. (see pic) According to the Post, contractors have been busy testing the cameras at a platform along the West 86th Street No. 1 line station in Manhattan and the 161st Street-River Avenue station, near Yankee Stadium.

As of Monday afternoon, though, it's unclear how things stand. Crain's New York is linking to an AP wire report stating that a deal between the NYPD and a private sector security and surveillance equipment maker has been scuttled. The report says only that the pilot project with MSGI was "improperly authorized" by an NYPD inspector. (In corporate lingo, that's known as "rogue spending.") The shares of MSGI have been on a rollercoaster ride over the past two trading days -- on Friday, rumors of the new subway video surveillance system deal sent shares up 41%. On Monday, shares closed 17% lower as investors reacted to the bad news of the aborted deal.

MSGI offered only a dry formal statement via e-mail: ''While MSGI has received no notice of cancellation from the NYPD Transit Police, we understand that the project is on hold so that the issues relating to internal police protocol can be properly addressed... There was a degree of miscommunication within the Police Department.''

(photo credit: New York Post)