MTA installs spikes at NYC subway station to deter fare evaders but straphangers skeptical it will work: Waste of money
The Metropolitan Transit Authority has rolled out its latest effort to combat fare evasion — this time installing spikes on turnstiles.The Post spotted workers installing the aggressive-looking apparatus Wednesday along the turnstile handrails at the 59th St./Lexington Ave.
stop, which services the N, R, W, 4, 5 and 6 lines.The pointy panels would make it hurt for people attempting to skip the toll by using the handrails to lift themselves over the turnstiles.But they don’t address a hack used on old gates of pulling on the turnstiles enough to slip through, or of climbing over or underneath them.Veronica Pisani, 40, a building manager who lives in the Fordham area of The Bronx, said she thought the newly installed metal gear looked “silly and foolish.”“I don’t think it’s going to prevent anyone from jumping the turnstiles,” said Pisani, who takes the subway nearly every day.“I see fare evasion all the time.
People will find a way.I just don’t really think this is [an effective] preventative measure,” she said.“It’s definitely a waste of money.”A spokesperson for the MTA did not respond to The Post’s inquiry about how much the metal spikes cost or if the transit giant currently has plans to install them at any other subway stations.Kristen, a 39-year-old designer and Manhattanite, thought the spikes looked uninviting.
“I think [the MTA] definitely could have used some peer review in regards to the overall feel of [the spikes],” she told The Post.“If the entire point of the subway is that it’s supposed to be used by everyone, [the spikes] very much tell me that it’s for everyone – except a select group of people.”But perhaps that’s the point.
Fare evasion costs the MTA roughly $500 million annually.The transit giant has been trying for years to recover the lost revenue.In 2023, the MTA installed pricy new gates designed to block fare evaders, but the $700k electronic panel doors were shown on TikTok being defeated wi...