These fare hoppers going for the long jump!
A ragtag group of quirky jocks leaped over the MTA’s new subway turnstile gates at an event dubbed the “Fare Evasion Olympics” — to prove how wildly ineffective the taller paneled doors are.
A pole dancer, a rock climber and parkour-lover channeled their inner gold medalist as they took running jumps to soar over the 6-foot-tall doors the transit agency hopes will finally outsmart fare beaters at the Broadway-Lafayette St station in Manhattan.
“It’s still incredibly beatable. It’s not really effective, it’s just expensive,” said Danny Fisher, a self-admitted fare evader who spearheaded the middle-of-the-night “Olympic event” Thursday.
“A few weeks ago, I saw a video of a little girl getting her neck caught in one. That’s so insane, these things are really crazy!” he continued, referring to the disturbing incident that sent the kid to the hospital last month.
“I don’t care that it’s ineffective — I want to evade the fare. I think it proves that it’s a waste of money and they’re hurting people.”
Wild footage shows one participant dressed in a full-body bunny costume and clutching an Olympic-style torch as the contestants bolted into the subway station to jump the turnstile.
Fisher recruited a “parkour guy, a rock climber and a pole dancer” to challenge the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s choice of where it puts its cash as part of his upcoming show, The Danny Fisher Show, a program he said will both poke fun at Big Apple life and celebrate the city.
For privacy reasons, and uneasiness about the criminality of the contest, none of the contestants gave their real names, which Peter Parkour, a 10-year-long traceur, someone who takes part in the free running activity, called “very silly.”
Parkour, of New Jersey, spiced up his act by vaulting onto the tap-to-pay pads and adding in some twists, while Tato, a recreational pole dancer, donned heels as she shimmied up the glass.
But it was “Josh” who won the crowd over with his rock climbing skills.
After chalking his hands, the Brooklynite grabbed hold of the brand-new overhead rider-counting scanners as if they were a Down Pull grip at the rock climbing gym before descending on the other side of the panel.
The judges awarded Josh a $3 check — the price of a subway fare, joking that the MTA raised the fee just for the competition.
“I’m always out there searching for new challenges and the MTA really upped the ante with this one. This just shows that anything can be overcome!” he said after winning the gold.
On the turnstiles themselves, Josh said: “It’s a lot of money that could be used elsewhere and if they want to get people to stop hopping the turnstiles, they could use that same money and make the service better.”
Several MTA workers stationed inside to help straphangers maneuver through the new fare gates watched on unfazed as the trio hopped the glass and a crowd of roughly a dozen cheered on the sidelines.
They still didn’t intervene when the group returned for a second run-through — though one worker whipped out his phone to film the unusual event.
“It was more than I could have ever envisioned. I was not expecting this level of competition from the athletes and we’re looking forward to the 2027 Fare Evasion Olympics,” Fisher said at the ceremony’s close.
“Hopefully, people will see this and feel something about the MTA and understand something about the new turnstiles.”
“The Danny Fisher Show” will kick off with a live show at the end of February and plans to air the Olympics in March.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.