The most important union for New York Metropolis transit employees has launched its newest authorized problem to maintain the MTA from shuttering cubicles in subway stations.
A lawsuit filed Friday by Transport Employees Union Native 100, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and the pinnacle of Middle for the Independence of the Disabled New York accuses MTA executives of dodging state public authorities legislation by not holding public hearings which might be required earlier than any “complete or partial closing” of a sales space. The swimsuit says the transit company may sporadically have an effect on a whole bunch of cubicles.
The grievance in Manhattan Supreme Court docket additionally costs the heads of the MTA and New York Metropolis Transit with violating the town’s Human Rights Legislation by limiting entry to the subway system for folks with disabilities by closing cubicles at stops the place station brokers function service gates.
An MTA station brokers works on the Jay Road Metro-Tech station, March 16, 2026. Credit score: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY
“There’s always a booth operator present to help make that happen,” Reynoso mentioned. “And what the MTA decided to do is, unilaterally not replace a worker if they go out of work, if an emergency happens — they want to keep the booths empty.”
The lawsuit marks the most recent flare-up between the union and the MTA over lowered staffing in what many New Yorkers nonetheless know as “token booths” and it comes within the run-up to the 2 sides coming into contract negotiations later this yr.
The union has repeatedly challenged the MTA’s efforts to reduce staffing in station cubicles, however agreed to permit its greater than 2,500 station brokers out of cubicles in early 2023 so employees may present customer support elsewhere inside stations, together with platforms. That transfer was accompanied by a $1 hourly pay improve for station brokers.
An MTA spokesperson declined to touch upon the specifics of the lawsuit, however the president of New York Metropolis Transit pointed to new guidelines reached within the deal reached three years in the past that moved station brokers exterior of cubicles.
“At the time of that signed agreement, public notice was provided, hearings were held and station agents were provided additional pay,” Demetrius Crichlow mentioned in a press release.
The authorized fights between the 2 sides date again practically 1 / 4 century, when there have been greater than 900 cubicles throughout the subway system. In August 2001, the union and a number of other different teams secured orders quickly barring the MTA from closing 53 of them with out first holding public hearings. There at the moment are about 400 cubicles, based on Arthur Schwartz, a lawyer for TWU Native 100.
However lengthy after the 2003 retirement of the token — and, extra lately, the final of MetroCard gross sales on the finish of 2025 — the union has continued to battle the MTA over staffing in station cubicles.
“If the governor and mayor are saying that the subways are safer and you’re diminishing the first line of defense, which is the customer agent, the station agent, then how does that make any kind of sense?” Chiarello mentioned. “You’re not safer, you’re less safe because nobody’s going to call when you’re being hurt.”
Subway crime final yr fell to its lowest stage in 16 years, with Gov. Kathy Hochul and MTA officers touting a 14% drop from pre-pandemic numbers in 2019.
“I tried at two stations to get help and they weren’t able to help me,” mentioned Judyuria Hernandez, a vacationer who was making an attempt so as to add worth onto her OMNY fare card.
Dasean Paynes, 18, mentioned station brokers may be particularly helpful for riders who aren’t so accustomed to the subway system or for folks with disabilities.
“Just in case you want to ask for directions or if you need help with the OMNY,” mentioned Paynes, who lives in Manhattan. “If you’re new to the city, the subway can be pretty hard to navigate.”
Associated
