Judge orders shuttered booths reopened

MTA Board to meet to address station booth closure plans

Updated (5:50 p.m.): Four days after ruling that the MTA couldnot shutter station booths because the authority did not follow proper procedure, the same Manhattan judge has ordered the MTA to reopen token booths and station kiosks that were closed last month as part of the MTA’s budget crisis. Despite holding mandated hearings in early 2009 on the same closure plans, Judge Saliann Scarpulla has ordered the MTA to hold hearings this year because concerns over the closures may have changed. The new ruling is a blow to the MTA, and the authority says it will appeal the order tomorrow morning.

The agency released a statement this afternoon:

The MTA continues to disagree with the court’s ruling that additional public hearings are required before the station booths and kiosks can be closed, and that the kiosks closed in May need to be re-opened. These closures were necessitated by the MTA’s dire financial situation, and the need for the savings they generate remains.

We believe the prior public hearings fully conformed with the legal requirements and will be appealing the judge’s order as soon as it is entered. The appeal triggers an automatic stay of the lower court’s order, and the MTA therefore should not be required to re-open the recently-closed kiosks at this time.

At the same time as the MTA pursues the appeal, we will be proceeding on a parallel track with the public hearing process. With that in mind, an MTA Board meeting is scheduled for tomorrow at which the Board will be asked to authorize the public hearing process to move this vital cost-saving initiative forward.

Concurrent with this appeal, the MTA Board in a special session at 9:30 a.m. tomorrowwill meet to discuss the future of the station agents under fire. Per a note from MTA CEO and Chair Jay Walder, the board will “address the litigation strategy” and will vote to start the public hearing process on the booth/kiosk reduction plans.

Friday’s ruling and today’s order both hinge on technical procedural issues, and the MTA can overcome the findings simply by holding another round of costly and time-consuming hearings. In the meantime, the agency will pay out at least $100,000 per day in taxpayer money until the station booths are closed for good in a few months. The TWU may have won this round of lawsuits, but I have to wonder who comes out ahead.