The MTA is installing spikes at this NYC subway station to stop fare evaders

On By Littum

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 device Wednesday along the roundabout at the 59th Street/Lexington Avenue stop, which serves the N, R, W, 4, 5 and 6 lines.

The pointed panels would hurt people trying to skip the toll by using the handrails to lift themselves over the meter. But they don’t address a hack used on old gates to pull the counter enough to slide through, or to climb over or under them.

Workers were seen installing the shiny new spikes on Wednesday. Stephen Yang

Veronica Pisani, 40, a construction manager who lives in the Fordham area of ​​the Bronx, said she thought the newly installed metal equipment looked “stupid and silly.”

“I don’t think it’s going to stop anyone from jumping the meter,” said Pisani, who takes the subway almost every day.

“I see price gouging 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.”

An MTA spokesman did not respond to The Post’s inquiry about how much the metal spikes cost or whether the transit giant plans to install them at other subway stations.

Commuters pass a jagged metal panel installed to prevent fare evaders from jumping the turnstile at the 59th Street and Lexington Avenue subway station in Manhattan. Stephen Yang
Some riders ignored the new spikes as they entered the subway system. Stephen Yang

Kristen, a 39-year-old designer and Manhattanite, thought the spikes looked uninviting.

“I think (the MTA) could definitely have used some peer review in terms of the overall feel of (the spikes),” she told The Post. “If the whole point of the subway is that it should be used by everyone, then tell me very much that it is for everyone – except a select group of people.”

But maybe that’s the point.

Fare evasion costs the MTA about $500 million annually. The transit giant has been trying to recover the lost income for years.

A New York Post reporter defeats the MTA’s new $700K gates by placing his hand over the gate’s exit sensor. Brigitte Stelzer

In 2023, the MTA installed expensive new gates designed to block fare evaders, but the $700,000 electronic panel doors were shown on TikTok and defeated with a simple hack.

Jose Hernandez, 37, a restaurant worker who lives in the Highbridge neighborhood of the Bronx, had higher hopes that the MTA’s latest attempt to stop fares would be more successful.

“I think it’s good. I hope it will help,” Hernandez said. “It’s just crazy that it’s come to this.”