Judge Skeptical of MTA's End Run Around Safety and Staffing Levels

 

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APRIL 8, 2026—Union officers and rank and file members packed into a state Supreme Civil Court hearing today to determine whether the MTA acted lawfully by unilaterally closing subway station booths for up to 8 hours at a time.

New York City Transit issued a memo in January, stating that station booths which were unstaffed as a result of unplanned emergencies—such as an agent going out sick—would no longer be backfilled on overtime.

MTA attorney Neil Abramson said the policy only applied to 19 large stations with more than one station booth. He argued that the customer service agreement that the union entered into in 2023, moving Station Agents out of booths for a portion of their shifts, gave management that right.

Attorney Arthur Schwartz, speaking for the union and the Center for Independence of the Disabled, New York, said that the MTA had the obligation to hold a public hearing before it could move ahead with the partial closure of a subway station, which is what previous court cases had established is the consequence of failing to staff a booth.

Dr. Sharon McLennon-Weir, Executive Director of CIDNY and Antonio Reynoso, Brooklyn Borough President are co-plaintiffs in the suit. Reynoso was also present at the hearing.

Judge Nicholas Moyne then asked MTA lawyer Neil Abramson a key question: would this policy—which only applies to 19 stations—eventually be expanded?

"Is there anything that is legally binding” Moyne asked, "that would prevent the MTA from expanding this to the other 450 stations? What's to prevent you, if I rule in your favor, to prevent the MTA from expanding it to all the other stations and saying, well, you know, Judge Moyne said a hearing wasn't required?"

Abramson, flustered, had no answer to the question, trying to deflect it with an argument that the MTA was committed to maintaining at least one staffed booth per station at all times.

That wasn't good enough for Stations Vice President Robert Kelley, who was placed on the record by Judge Moyne and told the court that the MTA was violating even their January bulletin which stated that this refusal to staff booths in emergency situations would only occur on the PM tour. But now, Kelly testified, they are doing it on the AM tour and not even seeking members on the extra list to fill the vacancies.

Judge Moyne did not issue a decision at the conclusion of the hearing, but TWU Local 100 is optimistic that he will stay the implementation of the MTA's January memo and rule that a public hearing must be held before management can proceed with these booth closures. At that time, we and the riding public will have the opportunity to tell the MTA board about the serious situation confronting disabled and vulnerable customers who cannot find a station agent in their time of need.

After the hearing, President Chiarello and Vice President Kelley addressed the press about the case and their commitment to the fight to keep station booths open.

“It disgusts me as the Local 100 President that I have to come here to court with my Vice President Kelley and fight for something that’s as plain as the nose on my face,” said Chiarello to one reporter. “Staff the stations. We’ve agreed to come out of the booth for public service and now you want to eliminate the public service too. So it makes no sense.”