164 Subway Token Booths Likely To Close

The MTA is this much closer to approving the shutdown of 164 token booths as a subcommittee will most likely approve the measure today. The booth closings are ostensibly to save money, though the 600 clerks would be re-assigned to roles like "roving customer service agents," direction-givers, and Metrocard swipe-helpers. This news comes as the NY Times reports that a third of the MTA police were paid over $100,000 in salary and overtime last year, pointing out that this has implications for these officers' pensions (and the MTA's bottom line) for years to come. Sigh. The MTA will be voting on the fare and toll hikes soon, and Gothamist has no idea what to say about the MTA except the people that run it are nuts, period, from the MTA to the State and City officials who vote on funding.

In October, the NYPD noted that subway assaults were up. New York magazine interviewed an MTA station agent last week; Jose Borerro had some interesting insights on what being stationed in the token booth is like ("we’re the ambassadors for the system") and confirmed what we know: "Senior citizens have a really hard time with the swipe."