Subway agents to remove station booths – NBC New York (47)

NEW YORK — Subway passengers have seen them every day for decades: Subway agents inside coin-operated booths, helping lost tourists find their way underground or helping people figure out why their MetroCard no longer works .

But they haven’t sold usage tokens, or tokens, for 20 years, and now the agents won’t stay in the booths any longer, but they won’t leave.

With the replacement of the MetroCard with the OMNY touch-and-play system, the MTA removes agents from its iconic glass booths and assigns them to roaming agents.

MTA officials said that at a time when public safety is the number one concern, getting officers out from behind the glass provides more eyes and ears.

“Being able to move around is a much better approach than behind a booth with a very limited view,” said Richard Davey, president of MTA Transit.

It also means new training for agents.

“It’s a little scary to be here with people… we have to pay attention to our surroundings, look around us,” said station agent Yamina Smith.

The booths themselves will not be removed and will remain as a bulletproof safety measure.

“As long as the booths are there we can pull back, I don’t see any problem,” said another station agent, Dwayne Boothman.

The Transit Workers Union accepted the traveling aspect of the job as a way to avoid layoffs.

“OMNY posed a serious threat. We refuse to be left behind like toll booths on bridges and tunnels,” said TWU Vice President Robert Kelly.

Transforming 2,000 cabin agents into roving agents will take some time and the program will begin on February 1, 2023.