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Token Booth Closings Start in April
By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 11, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 11, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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The first nine of the 164 token booths scheduled for closing will be shut down in April. The Daily News says the first retired booths will include ones in Union Square and Penn Station, and then the remaining booths will close weekly until October. Then, 600 of the clerks will be up and around, helping riders with the Metrocard machines and turnstiles. The Transit Authority emphasizes that even though the token booths are closing, the closures are just at stations where there will be one manned booth (and if you're at an unmanned entrance, there will be an intercom and you can ask to be buzzed in). Gothamist hopes that with these savings, there are more video cameras and monitoring, not to mention police presence, because we agree with 80 year-old Dorothy Francis who told the Daily News, "I can't run from robbers. I need protection in the subway."
How will you cope with the token booth closings? Gothamist supposes more people will stand near turnstiles closer to the the manned token booths late at night. But what will happen to the empty booths? Maybe it should be space for public art! And even though there are no more tokens, we still miss you very much.
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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