Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
MTA To Lay Off 1,000+ Workers, Up To 500 Station Agents
By
Ben Muessig
Published Feb 23, 2010
Modified Feb 23, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Ben Muessig
Published Feb 23, 2010
Modified Feb 23, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Alongside other cost-cutting moves that will eliminate subway and bus lines, nix free student MetroCards, and reduce service, the MTA has announced that it will fire more than 1,000 workers. In an effort to save a projected $50 million, the agency will lay off more than 600 unionized and non-unionized administrative workers, cutting 15 percent of the MTA's administrative payroll. The agency will also deliver pink slips to up to 500 NYC Transit station agents, who are represented by the Transport Workers Union.
The MTA originally planned to reduce station agent staffing by not rehiring after workers retire, according to the Times. But now, in a decision that would bring the first layoffs to the transit union in decades, the agency says it must fire unionized employees. Transport Workers Union Local 100 President John Samuelsen told the Daily News the cuts are shortsighted: "Their proposed reduction of station staff amounts to less than 1% of their multibillion-dollar budget ... The value of a human presence in the event of a human catastrophe in the subway is absolutely priceless."
Last fall, nearly 300 station agents were reassigned to other jobs. According to the Post, layoffs at the 70,000-employee agency could begin "in the next several days." Additional layoffs, which could include bus drivers, might take place in the summer. MTA Chairman Jay Walder defended the layoffs in a statement:
The State's economic crisis demands that the MTA move quickly and decisively to cut costs, and that is exactly what we are doing ... These layoffs are extremely painful, but we must live within our means and make the tough decisions that businesses and families across New York are making.
Tagged
budget
budget cut
firing
Jay Walder
layoff
metropolitan transporation authority
MTA
mta nyc transit
station
station agent
subway
Ben Muessig
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park
People who said they knew her described her as an artist and a familiar presence in the Ramble.
By
Charles Lane
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 7:04 p.m. ET
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
News
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .