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shant_jan t1_je9t1te wrote

all the folks complaining about this being a "patronage job" must never actually take the train because anyone with a stroller, wheelchair, bike, luggage, etc use them regularly to get on the train. they're also the ones who get you through when the turnstiles break or cant collect payment, let first responders into the station quickly, give tourists directions, and are essentially New York's defacto Lost and Found service.

sure, replace them with an automated service kiosk that would be contracted to some Albany crony who would go massively over budget and take a decade to roll out across the city only for them to constantly malfunction or break.

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spacieaero t1_jeaaixa wrote

I had to force my bike up and over a turnstile because the booth guy completely ignored me a couple years back, I'm sure I'm not the only one

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MovieTheaterPopcornn t1_jeaoe56 wrote

Yea I struggled with strollers for years without any help from booth workers at any station. Hell, random strangers have been more helpful than employees in the booth!

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jnoehre t1_jeaqexp wrote

Don't most people just carry their bikes over the turnstiles? I always have.

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Pennwisedom t1_jeaqfvd wrote

Last time I needed them, both the OMNY readers and Metrocard machines were broken, and the guy basically shrugged and told basically said "Sucks to be You." I also remember another time when the metrocard machine took me money, then didn't put it on the card, and the lady at the booth wouldn't let me in, I ended up having to walk home.

So maybe some subset of them do what you claim they do, but as someone who "actually takes the train", many of them just sit there and shrug when you actually need help.

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CactusBoyScout t1_jebv2vy wrote

There were only two MetroCard machines in my station for years (before OMNY) and one of them had a busted #1 button on the number pad… the local zip code had four 1’s in it so it was effectively unusable with credit cards. This went on for like 3 years. I asked the station agent next to the machine if they were ever going to fix it and she just shrugged. I’d seen other people complain about this to the station agent too. People missed trains all the time because of the lines.

Months later I finally got tired of the lines for the one working machine and emailed the MTA district manager for my station. It got fixed in like a week!

Just seems like some of the station agents truly do nothing. Why couldn’t she have communicated this shit up the chain? She sat there and watched these lines every morning and listened to people complain… but I guess did nothing.

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TheBklynGuy t1_jec7fn4 wrote

I ran upstairs one morning from the platform at 42nd st-PABT to tell a clerk to call the PD after a guy was attacking people. I had to go through the turnstile to get back to get the subway to get to work. Clerk screamed at me "you must pay again!!! No free ride!!" Missed the train explaining to him I paid already and ran up to get help. Ridiculous.

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GettingPhysicl t1_jedbefx wrote

so. you one of them or related to one. Don't worry this city doesn't have the guts to get rid of useless jobs let alone unionized ones.

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