Res. No. 868 Title Resolution calling upon the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to install video cameras in every subway station where a token booth will be closed and calls upon the appropriate committee of the Council to hold a hearing on the issue. Body By Council Members Baez, Addabbo, Avella, Barron, Gennaro, Gentile, Gioia, Katz, Lopez, Martinez, Nelson, Perkins, Quinn, Recchia, Rivera, Sanders, Seabrook, Sears and Vallone Whereas, The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) recently announced that 62 token booths will be closed by the end of this year; and Whereas, In lieu of stations agents who staff token booths, the MTA will rely on automatic MetroCard dispensers as well as "talk-back boxes" to save the agency $6 million over the next two years; and Whereas, Station agents are considered "the eyes and ears of the system" because as a human presence in subway stations 24 hours a day, these agents act as first responders in emergency situations; and Whereas, According to the testimony given by Darlyne Lawson, the Vice President of Stations for Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, at an April 29 joint hearing of the Committees on Transportation and Public Safety, station agents alert the police and other emergency personnel to come to the aid of a passenger in distress approximately 160 times a day; and Whereas, Station agents are also important to people who are elderly or disabled or who cannot go through the revolving, automated turnstiles, known as HEET's (High Entrance/Exit Turnstiles), and depend on these station agents to open the gates to enter and leave the stations; and Whereas, Although "talk back boxes" will enable subway riders to communicate with the station agent located in another part of the station, they will not adequately replace the "eyes and ears" of a station agent; and Whereas, The MTA has an obligation to protect subway riders from criminal acts as well as assist passengers who cannot enter or exit subway stations through the HEET's, and should therefore install video cameras in each location where a token booth will be closed; and Whereas, The MTA should dedicate appropriate resources and personnel to monitor such video camera transmissions; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the New York City Council calls upon the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to install video cameras in every subway station where a token booth will be closed and calls upon the appropriate committee of the Council to hold a hearing on the issue. APB LS#2373