You are on page 1of 2

News...

FROM COUNCIL MEMBER


MELISSA MARK-VIVERITO
District Office • 105 East 116th Street • New York, NY 10029 • (212) 828-9800 • Fax (212) 722-6378
City Hall Office • 250 Broadway, Room 1882 • New York, NY 10007 • 212-788-6960 • Fax 212-442-1564
Email: mviverito@council.nyc.gov

Testimony of Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito


Before the MTA, Regarding the Closure of New York City
Subway Booths and the Layoffs of Station Agents

July 14, 2010

My name is Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito and I represent District 8, which includes parts of Manhattan
and the Bronx. I am submitting this testimony in response to the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s (MTA) latest
plan to close or reduce the hours of booths in our subway stations and layoff many of the agents that worked in
those booths.

I am deeply concerned about the impact this plan will have on the safety and security of city residents who ride
our subways. I am just as concerned about the lack of any real public process behind such significant changes to
our neighborhoods’ subway stations that could impact the daily lives of riders. The MTA must explore alterna-
tives to these drastic cuts, such as tapping into its federal stimulus funding.

Under the current plan, 49 out of 86 subway stations will be affected throughout the city and 220 station agents
will be fired. Manhattan, in particular, is going to bear a large burden of these cuts, with more than half of our
subway booths and kiosks being affected, including at least three in my district alone.

Station agents in so many ways serve as the “eyes and ears” of our subway system. As such, they play a critical
role in keeping the stations safe and preventing criminal and even terrorist activity. There is an inherent contradic-
tion in promoting the “If you see something, say something” message and then reducing a significant number of
personnel that one might look for to report an unattended bag or suspicious package.

These agents have been known to help New Yorkers and visitors alike feel more comfortable, particularly during
later hours when stations might be emptier and riders are more vulnerable to fall victim to an attack, robbery or
worse. Just last week, a station agent in Queens named Tareque Ahmed risked his own personal safety to help a
woman who was being beaten by a man on the subway platform. There is no telling what could have happened to
that victim if Mr. Ahmed was not in the station.

There are other situations where the presence of station agents is essential. In recent months we have had a few
high profile cases of individuals being killed after trying to recover something they dropped onto the subway
tracks. If station agents are not available, straphangers may be even more likely to take these risks to retrieve their
personal property.

So many of us have been on trains that are delayed due to sick customers. What if that sick customer – who might
be seriously ill or have a medical emergency – is unable to access a station agent to call for assistance?
Additionally, we have all seen station agents providing assistance to parents that use our subway system
to travel with young children in strollers, providing them access through the locked gates once they have
swiped their MetroCards. Who will now help these parents, many of them single mothers, to get onto
the next train without unnecessarily juggling a folded stroller, while worrying about their children’s
safety?

The bottom line is that it just makes sense to have station attendants at every subway stop, and there are
clearly a lot of concerns and questions that must be addressed by the MTA.

Unfortunately, the autonomous manner in which MTA has handled this issue is irresponsible at best.
Holding public forums and events where feedback is meaningfully accepted and taken into account is
essential in putting forth a plan like this. Through dialogue, the MTA might reconsider some of the cuts,
make modifications or look to alternatives. However, the nature of this week’s very rushed public
events suggests that these booth closures and layoffs are already a foregone conclusion. MTA must
improve its practices when it comes to transparency and input from the public.

While the Authority has responded to the safety and security concerns raised by so many by citing that
transit police can fill whatever gaps are created, I have serious reservations regarding this
response. Transit police, who are already under strain as it is, should be working collaboratively with
these station agents, not simply replacing them.

Though unfortunate, many New Yorkers, particularly from communities of color, hesitate before
approaching police, whether on the street or in the subway system. Station agents might serve in many
cases as a more approachable transit official to report crimes or suspicious activity.

Furthermore, whatever limited increase in transit police in the city’s fiscal year budget has come largely
through federal grants. In the current fiscal and political environment, we should not be dismantling
those structures we already have in place, just because we receive federal funding in a given year that
could supplant necessary personnel.

If the MTA is interested in benefiting from federal resources, it should tap into the $185 million in
federal stimulus funding, which can be utilized to help fill the budget gap. Protecting riders’ safety
should be seen as the MTA’s most serious responsibility. The maintaining of agents in dozens of
subway stops throughout the city is a more than worthwhile use of stimulus funds.

The Authority also has a responsibility to protect its workforce. Resorting to layoffs during this difficult
economic climate, particularly when these are highly valued positions and when there is funding avail-
able to save these jobs, is a shortsighted move on the part of the MTA, which will also have serious
implications to the experience that riders have in our subway system.

I stand in support of a bill in the State Assembly, introduced by Assemblyman Wright that would require
the MTA to keep all booths open until a comprehensive safety study can be performed. It would also
create a NYC transit authority safety advisory panel and require minimum staffing levels in our subway
system. The bill has been passed by the NYS Senate. I hope the Assembly will soon pass this legisla-
tion and that the Governor will sign it, so we can prioritize the safety of those who ride our subways
above all else.

-2-

You might also like