Res. No. 358

Resolution calling on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to ensure that every subway station has at least one station agent on each platform.

By Council Members Gerson, Brewer, Comrie, Gentile, Gonzalez, James, Mark-Viverito, Palma, Sanders Jr., Vann and Foster

Whereas, In 2005, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) plan for service cuts and fare hikes remained largely unchanged, despite significant increases in cash flow beyond initial projections; and

Whereas, If the MTA’s budget were truly deficit-driven, the Agency would proportionately rescind some of its service cuts due to these improved revenue projections; and

Whereas, The service cuts when fully imposed resulted in the closure of 164 part-time token booths; and 

Whereas, The MTA has been carrying out plans to redeploy 619 station agents throughout the system, most likely shifting station agents out of neighborhood stations into tourist areas and transit hubs which will endanger commuters at any unmanned stations; and

 Whereas, Every year, station agents activate their “emergency booth communication system” more than 60,000 times in order to bring in police or emergency technicians; and

Whereas, According to a document released by the Straphanger’s Campaign in 2003 entitled “Keep the Booths Open!”, Patrick Bahnken, President of Uniformed Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics Union, Local 2507 said that the lack of station agents will have an “immediate impact” on the services carried out by the Emergency Medical Teams, who find it “next to impossible” to enter the subway station through a high entry/exit turnstile with their equipment and “impossible to exit the system with a patient through such a turnstile,” and

Whereas, Station agents are also essential to open emergency doors to allow for passage of people with disabilities, children in strollers, and passengers with bicycles; and

Whereas, Because many of the proposed booth closings are at entrances along active commercial strips and community centers, a number of riders may shun these unstaffed locations, hurting businesses and neighborhood life; and

Whereas, Station agents are essential to provide directions to New Yorkers and the City’s many tourists and the presence of station agents serve as a deterrent to crime; and

Whereas, New York State Senator Eric Schneiderman was quoted in “Keep the Booths Open!” to say “It is impossible to have safety in the subways without a reliable human presence;” now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Metropolitan Transportation Authority ensure that every subway has

at least one station agent on each platform.

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