By Philip Newman
Transit activists have filed a lawsuit in an attempt to stop the Metropolitan Transportation Authority from shutting down token booths in subway stations in Queens and the other boroughs, which they contend is a deterrent to crime.
A coalition of advocacy organizations went into State Supreme Court in Manhattan asking an injunction to halt closings of token booths pending public hearings prior any such shutdowns. The suit contends that both federal and state statutes demand such hearings.
The coalition, which includes the Transport Workers Union and the Straphangers Campaign among others, said transit officials plan to close 35 part-time token booths and cut hours at 15 full-time booths this month.
Eight token booths are to be closed in Queens and the hours are slated to be reduced at three others in the borough, according to a report issued by the public advocate.
Transit officials say more than 80 percent of subway riders use MetroCards rather than tokens and that the straphangers can use MetroCard vending machines. Transit Authority President Lawrence Reuter has said token clerks would be reassigned to duty as roaming information agents in the stations.
Those seeking to block the removal of token booths and clerks say their major objection is that the clerks are a big factor for the safety of subway riders in the stations and provide help in case of crime or other emergency.
The transit advocates contend in the suit that the proposed booth closings violate the Transit Authority’s “statutory obligation to ensure passenger safety” and “discriminate against individuals with physical disabilities.”
In a public hearing before the City Council Transportation Committee in early July, a string of witnesses implored the Transit Authority keep token booths and the clerks who work in them.
Several persons, including token clerks, testified about how the clerks had notified police or saved lives when crimes were committed in or near stations.
Christine Balance told how a token clerk notified police after a Jeffrey Wright of Jamaica captured a man suspected of raping her a few moments earlier in the Canal Street station in Manhattan.
“I’m so very grateful to the token clerk,” Balance said. “If no one was there, my perpetrator would still be out there.”
Reuter told the City Council hearing that his agency did not want to jeopardize anyone’s safety. He said the TA would use displaced clerks as roving agents to assist customers with vending machines and keep a watch for criminal activity.
Besides the Transit Workers Union and the Straphangers Campaign, the suit was also brought by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, Citizens Action of New York, the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, Working Families Party, 200 West 15th Street Block Association, Coalition for Safer Transportation, Work Fairness, the Pubic Affairs Committee for Older Adults, Lower Manhattan Alliance for Political Action, the Clinton Special District Coalition, the Noble Street Bock Association & Friends and individuals Joseph Neiman and Izadeli Montalvo.
The lawsuit was filed against Lawrence Reuter, president of the Transit Authority and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
