In late November, a woman in a dark coat was caught in the doors of a Manhattan fare gate at the Broadway/Lafayette station. A clip that went viral on Instagram shows the woman’s head trapped between the two panels, while a nearby MTA employee tries to pry them apart.
The footage was shared by user @jmbp000, and it sparked a flurry of online chatter about the new automatic turnstiles.
MTA officials said the gate likely shut on the woman because the sensors were designed to detect a second person slipping through a gate that was already in motion.
When someone else is already inside, the system interprets the next person as a potential fare‑evader and closes the doors. One technician explained that the only way to free someone stuck is to shut off the system, then open the gate manually.
The incident comes amid a broader effort to reduce fare‑skipping in the city. The MTA has rolled out new gates that automatically close if two people try to pass at once, as well as new decorative “fins” and “sleeves” on old turnstiles.
These features, which could cost as much as $7 million to install at each of the 472 subway stations, have not proven to stop determined commuters from finding ways around the fare wall.
“This doesn’t sound like a simple idea,” muttered 23‑year‑old John Raine, who called the overhaul “dystopian.” “It’s like having a controlling boyfriend.” His friend, 34‑year‑old Mia Rade, urged everyone to “pay attention” and start buying tickets.
An online discussion on Reddit saw users joking and concerned about the incident. “Great. Now the MTA is guillotining people,” one user wrote, followed by another who asked, “I guess whoever designed this didn’t think about human head decapitation.
Can she sue for that???” The New York Police Department said it had no record of the event, and the MTA has not yet commented.
Similar technology is used in Boston’s transit system, where sensors alert when two people move through at once. The alarms usually activate after the doors are already moving, so they rarely prevent a last‑minute slip.
While the new system aims to reduce fare‑evading, the incident has highlighted the need for a balance between security and practicality. For commuters, the message remains the same: buy a ticket or be prepared for the consequences.
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