Subway kook slashes man in razor rage
THE SUBWAY station clerk soon may go the way of the token.
In what could be the beginning of the end for booth-dwelling workers, the MTA is in negotiations with the transit union to create a new title, “customer service ambassador,” with new duties, the Daily News has learned.
Ambassadors will roam stations and aid riders, in effect offering concierge services befitting the subway.
“These ambassadors will improve communication with riders by providing real-time information about the system and their commutes,” said Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman Shams Tarek.
It’s all part of improving customer service, Tarek said, which is key to MTA Chairman Joe Lhota’s Subway Action Plan.
As they did back when riders used tokens, station agents still handle MetroCard transactions and take questions and complaints from tourists and New Yorkers alike. But in anticipation of the day when the MetroCard is retired for smart-card and phone payments, and fewer people line up at booths, the MTA and the union representing transit workers have tried to negotiate new responsibilities for station agents.
Riders got their first glimpse of the new subway ambassadors at the reopening of the 53rd St. stop on the R line in Brooklyn, following the station’s six-month makeover. The workers were handing out flyers detailing the station renovations and new artwork.
Commuter Will O’Connor, 42, thinks having roving workers makes more sense than the booths. He said he never goes to a booth anymore and thinks their locations are inconvenient.
“I’ve tried to bark information to one of those booths through the turnstile,” the tech worker from Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, said of one fruitless effort to figure out when his next train would show up.
Jean-Claude Quintyne, 25, from Crown Heights, Brooklyn, thought it would help make his commute smoother, particularly when he’s at the busy Atlantic Ave.-Barclays Center station. The ambassador concept, Quintyne said, is a sign that the MTA is “moving to improve things, instead of trying to empty our pockets.”
Not everyone is thrilled with the plan. Some representatives of Transport Workers Union Local 100 say the MTA is trying to cut its workforce by merging the role of station agent and platform controller — train conductors assigned to thin crowds at stations — into a single title.
“They just want to combine both, where they work the platform and they also work on the other side of the turnstile,” said Kia Phua, the union’s vice president of rapid transit operations. “It is a job cut.”
Not so, Tarek said. The MTA wants to hike the TWU’s workforce once the titles are merged, he said.
Local 100 spokesman Pete Donohue said the union has specific demands for the MTA before it would sign off on the ambassador position. That includes significant pay hikes for any conductor or station agent assigned to the new title, based on seniority, and no layoffs for the workers.
The union’s new president, Tony Utano, has not taken a position on the matter. “I’m committed to defending the contractual rights of our members, advancing their livelihoods and improving workplace conditions,” Utano said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the MTA is moving forward with the plan, the union says. With talks underway since last month on responsibilities and titles, the agency already is fitting conductors for new uniforms — a yellow and black polo shirt with epaulets — in anticipation of a rollout this month, according to Phua.
The MTA says there’s no final uniform design yet. The agency has been trying for years to get station agents out of their booths to help riders, including one effort to dress them in burgundy vests and blazers, with a black tie or ascot. MAN RIDING the subway home in Queens early Sunday was slashed from ear to jaw in an apparently unprovoked attack, authorities said.
The 21-year-old victim told cops he was riding the Manhattanbound A train in Rockaway and texting on his phone when a stranger approached him about 1:40 a.m., police said.
The lunatic attacker (photo), wearing a blue baseball cap and jacket, pulled a razor blade and sliced the left side of the victim’s face before running off when the train stopped at the Beach 60th St. station.
Medics took the victim to Jamaica Hospital in stable condition, officials said. Cops continued to investigate Sunday.
There have been 1,763 transit crimes this year — down 1% from the same period last year, when there were 1,782. A COP RIDING an NYPD scooter to a Columbus Day parade in the Bronx flew off his bike and injured his leg after a car clipped his tire Sunday morning.
The 26-year-old police officer was making a left turn on E. Tremont Ave. when the car heading north on Rosedale Ave. in Van Nest struck the scooter about 10:20 a.m. , officials said.
“I was stopped at a red light when all of a sudden his body landed on the hood of my car,” said a shaken Catherine Rivera, 46, who called 911. “I’m still nervous. I hope he’s going to be OK,” she added.
The injured officer was taken to Jacobi Medical Center with a fractured left ankle.
The car’s driver remained at the scene, and police did not file charges. A BRONX woman’s violent boyfriend punched her 3-year-old autistic son in the face, police said Sunday.
He struck the tot about 10:40 p.m. on Saturday inside the woman’s apartment on University Ave. near W. Tremont Ave. in Morris Heights, cops said. The little boy was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital. His abuser ran off after the incident. Police were investigating the case Sunday night.