And the bedbug war of 2008-??? continues! This time the bastards reportedly showed up in a subway booth at the "Ninth Street station" on the F line in Park Slope 10 days ago, though the Post doesn't specify whether it's the Fourth Avenue or Seventh Avenue station. But apparently the station agents were so spooked they rang the emergency button and "immediately left" the station. Station agent Norman Pou said, "I lost my mind. Where there's one, there's two; when there's two, there's more. There's always a whole group of them." more ›

Reader Walter sent us this photo of a station agent snoozing in his booth this morning at the 36th Avenue station in Astoria. Now normally we would suggest an early retirement, but as the Transportation Workers Union previously mentioned, some still-employed station agents are working some rough overtime hours due to cutbacks. And remember, "perception isn't always reality." Maybe he was just closely inspecting something on the back of his eyelids. more ›

An avuncular MTA employee who was caught on camera sleeping inside the token booth at the City Hall R station has put in his request for retirement. The unidentified worker, whom we'll just call Sleepy, got in trouble earlier this month when NY1 obtained a photo of him with his face down in the booth. In an interview, Sleepy claimed he wasn't napping, just bent over to closely inspect the money, because, "I always check money and everything else and look at it carefully. Because I've found errors in the money, there are, slightly misprints, what do you call. In fact, I've shown clerks the same, what I've found." more ›

Today, over 200 MTA workers are turning in their work badges to comply with the agency's layoffs. The Transit Workers Union, which is planning a mass protest today, says that 202 workers are turning in their IDs today (WABC 7 reports 194 are station agents). The MTA issued the layoffs to deal with its huge deficit. TWU president John Samuelson told NY1, "Our members that lost their health insurance, we just came up with a plan within ourselves and we all kicked in $10 a pay period just to keep our 3,500 members that are laid off with health insurance all right. It shows you the fortitude of our membership and it was done in a very quick motion." more ›

Remember those six felonies a day that happen in the subway? Well God forbid you have the press the emergency intercom for help, because in the subway, no one can hear you scream. That's because the emergency intercoms, like most everything in the system, take a long time to fix. An average of 11 days, to be specific. Andrew Albert, the riders' representative on the MTA board said, "It's unacceptable. There's a real safety concern." more ›

An MTA employee entering his golden years was recently caught dozing like the Maytag repairman inside the token booth at the City Hall R station. A regular late night rider took a photo of the unidentified worker, who looks like he moonlights as a kindly grandpa in Werther's Originals ads, and gave it to NY1. The news crew dispatched a reporter to confront the employee, who works the graveyard shift and has been on the job almost 20 years. His befuddled explanation just melts your heart: more ›

Perhaps this is why many station agents choose to stay in their booths when they witness an assault. Tareque Ahmed, a 35-year-old station agent working at the 36th Street R station in Queens, witnessed a couple fighting on the platform as he began his shift late Sunday night. According to AMNY, Ahmed saw the man hit the woman. He began taking photos and yelled to a co-worker to call for police. The assailant then turned his rage towards Ahmed. more ›

Even though many are worried about subway safety as the MTA is trying to lay off station agents, having them around only does so much for rider safety. Lisseth Choez, 22, is suing the NYPD, the Health and Hospitals Corp. and the MTA over a violent beating she received from a man who attacked at her at the Lorimer Street J train stop last year, fracturing her eye socket as he kicked and punched her. Her assault was in full view of two MTA workers, who remained inside their secure booth and called police. It was a full ten minutes before anybody showed up to help. more ›

Yesterday, a judge ordered the MTA to reopen 38 token booths closed as part of the agency's cost-cutting measures. This ruling from Justice Saliann Scarpulla comes a week after her earlier one finding that the MTA's layoffs and booth closings were illegal because they occurred without public hearings. more ›

Last month, the MTA laid off hundreds of station agents, as part of its cost saving measures, only for a judge to block the decision. Now, a judge has ruled that the agency "violated the law when it closed booths and laid off about 260 agents last month without holding public hearings," according to City Room. more ›

A judge may have temporarily blocked 475 station agents from being laid off but the MTA is continuing with ways to close its big budget shortfall. And that includes eliminating 1,000 more workers this year. The Post says this "marks a second wave of layoffs, though this time they'll be accomplished though attrition and unfilled job vacancies." Though there will be $110 million in savings, there will likely be "dirtier subway cars and more graffitied windows, shorter LIRR and Metro-North trains, fewer public-address alerts on platforms and fewer ushers at Grand Central Terminal." more ›

A judge has issued a restraining order preventing the MTA from laying off 475 token booth clerks (also known as station agents) last night. According to the Daily News, "union lawyers argued the Metropolitan Transportation Authority failed to follow legally required steps like holding additional public hearings." Originally, the workers were supposed to go to a training center today to turn in their badges. more ›

The latest plea to save hundreds of subway station agents from the MTA's budget cuts is now coming from House of Representatives. Three Democrats sent a letter to MTA chairman Jay Walder, "We strongly urge you to re-evaluate the current plans" and not, potentially, "compromise" subway security. more ›

Alongside other cost-cutting moves that will eliminate subway and bus lines, nix free student MetroCards, and reduce service, the MTA has announced that it will fire more than 1,000 workers. In an effort to save a projected $50 million, the agency will lay off more than 600 unionized and non-unionized administrative workers, cutting 15 percent of the MTA's administrative payroll. The agency will also deliver pink slips to up to 500 NYC Transit station agents, who are represented by the Transport Workers Union. more ›

Subway managers on the No. 4 line have enlisted college interns to pose as subway riders and grade token booth clerks on their courtesy levels. It's unclear why the study, which was called "Operation Courtesy," was restricted to the 4 line, but NYC Transit spokesman Charles Seaton says, "It's like a mystery shopper program," in which storeowners' send fake shoppers to review staff. It's also unclear why the MTA needs to conduct an undercover sting to verify that workers can be gruff. But to be fair, we've found many of booth clerks to be exceptionally pleasant, considering they spend their days underground in a tiny box. more ›

So now that all these station agents have been cut, who are folks turning to when they need help navigating the subway system? The NY Times says "unsuspecting Samaritans like Mr. Hossain, a snack vendor in the Times Square station," have been lending a helping hand. He told the paper, “It’s all day long. When I get a chance, I tell them go this way, go that way. But sometimes, I’m serving a customer so I don’t say anything.” more ›

Despite fare hikes, the MTA has cut those maroon-vested station agents from 17 Brooklyn subway stations, effective yesterday. The affected stations include the Prospect Park B/Q station, where cops allegedly sodomized a man back in October 2008. Abandoned subway entrances will have intercoms patched into the 24-hour booth, but residents are uneasy, and one commuter at the Utica Avenue station in Bed Stuy tells the Daily News, "So I'll have to phone someone at the other end of the station to let them know I'm being mugged? That makes no sense." more ›