People still eat and drink to their hearts' content on the NYC subways.
Most of us here are quite happy with the utter lack of food wrapper litter and spilled food debris on our Metro system. Then there are a few folks who think they're above the law. Like the female in the article at the head of this thread.
And I wish the cops would bust them for doing it. From a personal experience, I once put my briefcase on the floor of the NYC subway. A wad of gum was on the floor in that very spot, which I realized when I picked the brief case up and the gum, which was stuck to the bottom, stretched across my shoes, suit pants, and suit jacket. It looked disgusting and I felt disgusting, but there was nothing that I could do because I was on my way to a very important meeting. I then spend well over an hour later that day picking the stands of gum off my clothes, just so I could send them to the dry cleaner. The resin in the gum, however, left a permanent stain on my shoes and brief case.
The reason why NYC MTA allows eating and drinking on the subway is not because they approve, but because such a rule would be totally unenforcible given the fact that the mass transit system in NYC moves more people every work day than than the the entire population of the nation's third largest city.