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NY Post
New York Post
13 Dec 2023


NextImg:25 fare beaters pour through new Queens subway gate on single swipe: video

Now arriving at the station, the fare-evading conga line.

Viral video shows more than two dozen straphangers at a Queens subway station pouring through the gates with one MetroCard swipe — a day after the barriers meant to deter such behavior were unveiled.

New gates that feature tall paddles that swing open and shut have replaced decades-old turnstiles at the Sutphin Boulevard-Archer Avenue station as part of a pilot program to test if revamping the subway entrances could chip away at the $690 million fare-beating crisis.

But, a weakness of the gates was quickly exploited by 25 fare beaters who lined up and sprinted through in single file while grabbing the person in front of them — reminiscent of the popular novelty line dance, the video showed.

The brazen act was uploaded to X just one day after MTA officials rolled out the gates, which cost $700,000 to install at the station.

The barriers have to remain open for a period of time to allow riders connecting to the JFK Air Train to easily walk through with their luggage.

However, in the 12 seconds the gate remained open, the whole group pushed through at a cost of $2.90, leaving the MTA out of $69.60.

A May MTA report on fare and toll evasion noted that “400,000 riders enter the subway each day without paying – a problem so big that enforcement alone cannot solve it.”

That figure means that more than one out of ten riders, on average, are cheating the system.

The report noted that many fare evaders had a high level of “intention” and “athleticism,” attributes that would be especially helpful in a quest to avoid paying $2.90 at the Jamaica hub.

An MTA worker told Curbed last week that some agile crooks can still jump the four-foot gates, to his “surprise.”

Others crawl under, while fare beaters with long arms can reach over and activate the exit sensors, the worker reportedly said.

One X user alluded to the physical ability needed to best the new gates by posting a picture of a hardcore trampoline fitness class captioned, “me practicing for when i go to new york [sic] this spring.”

Another comically likened the gates to the swinging doors on a saloon in the Wild West.

The MTA did not immediately respond to a request for comment by The Post on Tuesday.

“I don’t think I’ve seen technology that’s perfect in any city, frankly,” Rich Davey, the MTA’s top executive for the city subway and bus systems, said at the official gate unveiling last week.

“But this is obviously going a long way to improving our current turnstile system.”