PencilP stops train door from closing
Get the lead out! A single pencil managed to grind subway service to a halt on Christmas Eve when it got jammed inside the door of a train.
The W train was at the Herald Square station around noon when one set of doors mysteriously wouldn’t close, workers told The Post.
“It was like someone was just holding the door open,” one worker said.
Stumped, the train conductor left the security of the cabin, inspected the door — and found that the pencil was the culprit.
The train was stuck at the station for six minutes, momentarily impacting southbound service — delaying at least one other train on the N, R and W lines, MTA rep Amanda Kwan told The Post.
“Expect longer waits for southbound N, R and W trains after we removed a pencil that prevented a train’s doors from closing at 34 St-Herald Sq,” the MTA tweeted afterward.
Twitter-savvy straphangers were stunned by the announcement.
“Is this a joke?” asked @JeanMetauten, whose account profile notes that she is “mostly here to complain about NJ Transit/MTA.”
“No, Jean,” the agency replied. “Objects such as pencils can prevent doors from completely closing.” Others were less generous. “Great to know that our Subway system can be grinded to a halt by a pencil,” wrote @GeraldKanter1. “This is what we pay $2.75 for?”
User @xofabis suggested the MTA install blades on its train doors “so that people’s hands/book bags can just get chopped off.” But some had the MTA’s back. “It doesn’t matter what was stuck -whatever it is stops the doors from closing,” wrote @TamarSmith3. “Do you want subways that take off with open doors?”
More often than not, doors are stuck because straphangers are in the way — but debris and other objects blocking them from sliding shut are not uncommon, workers said Tuesday.
A pencil is not even the weirdest thing they had seen gumming up service.
“We get all sorts of things stuck in there . . . I’ve seen an iPad stuck in there,” one worker told The Post.
“We have to stop and hold a train for that. And regardless of what’s causing the issue, the train can’t continue safely until it’s gone,” the worker added.
“Things get stuck in the door, and they did a great job taking care of it,” said an MTA supervisor at Herald Square. “People think it’s some bulls--t excuse, but we are just trying to be safe.”