NEW YORK CITY — A simple “hack” is all it takes to beat the MTA’s fancy new anti-fare evasion gates, according to a viral video.
The hack? Just wave your hand over a sensor, according to the TikTok video, first reported by the New York Post.
A man demonstrates this move inside the Sutphin Boulevard-Archer Avenue station in Queens, walks through the opening gate and past a gaggle of NYPD officers, the video shows.
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“(No) more hoppin or crawling we walkin now,” one commenter posted.
The Post reported that the new gates — which reportedly cost $700,000 at the station — also stay open for roughly five seconds, a span long enough to let more than one person amble through the turnstile.
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MTA officials, in response, said the gates are only tactic in their fight against turnstile jumpers.
“The MTA has a multi-layered approach to deterring fare evasion, driven by a blue-ribbon panel’s report, that includes a search for new fare gate technology, police officers, private guards, transit enforcement teams, discount fare programs and soon, a customer-messaging campaign,” said Tim Minton, the MTA’s communications director, in a statement.
“In addition, MTAPD officers were assigned to encourage payment compliance through wide gates being piloted at Sutphin-Archer station shortly after they were installed there.”
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