Part 1 involved me on a bike at 10mph, a red traffic light on crossing one way streets 100m from my front door, a traffic cop and a ticket for $200 - court in July.
SO part 2 last night involved an MTA worker holding open the service door at Flushing Main St station and me and my wife entering with bikes on our shoulders. Once on the train a fellow passenger introduced himself as a cop, asked for ID and escorted us back upstairs. It took 20 minutes to give us each a ticket for $60. The fact we had monthly cards also made no impact. On the up side he seemed generally interested in track cycling.
Whilst we stood there they ticketed a few old non english speaking elderly women too. Basically it looked like a 'sting' - MTA guy holds door, you take it, you're knicked!
Just to let you all know, the open service doors at the station are not free
Steve
Welcome to NYC Part 2
I'm a bit confused.... what did they give you the ticket for? did you pay the fare?
You have to swipe your card at the turnstile, turn the turnstile (while not going through it), THEN go through the service gate.
That's right
But if you did pay for the ride by having a monthly card, you should get off. You didn't quite follow the rules, but you didn't steel a ride either.
Also, if the MTA offers you a free ride by waiving you in, why shouldn't you be permitted to accept it?
But in the end, you probably won't get off unless you spend much more than $120 on a lawyer.
I'd write some letters and try to embarass them a bit.
>But in the end, you probably won't get off unless you spend much more than $120 on a lawyer.
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Just real curious about what type of ticket is that?
For traffic tickets, if you don't think the ticket is fair, you can always show up in court to fight it. Doesn't cost a cent (except you time). What's so different about this one?
"Farebeating is a crime and should be ticketed. But being waved through a gate by an MTA employee, even if the turnstile was not spun, should be considered a mistake made in good faith, not farebeating. (I often find myself ""waved"" onto buses with fareboxes taped over. Can I expect to be ticketed soon? If the MTA and police are doing this deliberately in order to raise revenue or for some other purpose, then that's criminal on their part."
A colleague of mine had this happen to her when she had a large suitcase with her while she was commuting from home.
I'm not a lawyer, I don't even purport to play one on TV, but each time I hear this, I can't help but think it's entrapment.
I had little respect for the MTA's standards, service, and it's management (not including most conductors on lines north) - but this just stinks from the sounds of it.
"This happened to me five years ago - not like I'm still bitter about it! Nine and a half months pregnant, I walked through an open gate at the bottom of the subway stairs with an unlimited ride MetroCard in hand. I was pulled aside by a plainclothes cop and given a $100 ticket. I couldn't go to court because I just happened to be giving birth at the time. My notarized, mailed defense was rejected and I had to pay the ticket. ""Avoidance of fare"" or something that made it sound like I was jumping the turnstile!"
Rudy Giuliani is an American HERO! And his prosecution of turnstile jumpers has made us a safer nation. To even suggest otherwise is akin to treason, or at least sedition.
You're either with us or with the turnstile jumpers!
