Now the subway’s crawling with fare-evaders!
Rule-breaking riders are making a mockery of the MTA’s latest attempt to stop fare evaders by easily ducking under or hopping over turnstiles that have been equipped with new crescent-shaped metal barriers, The Post has found.
The row of four-inch high shields were installed Tuesday at the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall/Chambers Street station in an effort to thwart turnstile jumpers — who cost the transit giant hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
But two scofflaws were spotted by The Post effortlessly crawling under the lackluster barriers and 11 others hopped over them during a three-hour period Thursday.
A security guard at the station did nothing to stop the subway scofflaws and there were no police on patrol there.
“I can go under this. I can jump,” Marcos Mesri, a consultant from Brooklyn, who watched on in dismay as other riders beat the new barriers. “You figure out another way.”
Another straphanger, who asked not to be named, added, “It’s a waste of tax payer money.”
When asked if the new barriers were effective, rider Tina Williams, 38, of Manhattan said: “I guess not, because someone already hopped the turnstile earlier. They could go over the, could go under.”
The MTA launched an anti-fare evasion campaign after the agency lost more than $700 million to the problem in 2023 — and roughly $360 million in the subway alone last year.
In a separate effort to stop fare beaters last month, the transit agency installed spiked metal barriers, at the 59th Street/Lexington Avenue station.
Post Says to MTA on fare beaters:
Dear MTA, Here’s how you stop fare beaters:
Arrest them.
Arrest them.
Arrest them.
Arrest them.
Arrest them.
Arrest them.
Arrest them.
Arrest them.
Arrest them.
Arrest them.
But, as in Brooklyn, a flood of riders were soon seen hopping over the entrance in the exact same manner they always have — often gripping the spiked barrier with their bare hands.
Other recent anti-fare beating measures launched by the MTA include stationing gate guards near emergency exits at more than 200 stations last year.
MTA spokeswoman Meghan Keegan didn’t return The Post’s inquiry Thursday about how much the new shields cost to install.
