Subway passenger left standing while riding the train (AP Photo/ Marco Ugarte)
Fellow New York subway riders who commute daily on the train have mix reactions toward a $50 fine for hogging more than one seat on the train, and the news that ticketing has spiked a 17% increase over the past year.
Anthony Ortem, 26, a current resident of Brooklyn, remarks "I am in favor of the fine because it will prevent the MTA from raising subway fares. The fare could be brought down dramatically if they enforced more fines like fines for polluting on the subway. Trash that ends up on the tracks causes fire or delays and all kinds of things."
Jason Rivera, 26, who resides in Manhattan, disagrees with the fine. "The fines for seat hoggers hasn't been an effective deterent at all. I still see numerous daily examples of inconsiderate bus and subway passagers taking up two, sometimes three or more seats. NYC Transit Police should stop wasting their time searching for seat hoggers to fine, and instead spend more time monitoring the subways for more serious cimes and terrorist threats."
Gabe, a resident of Queens, states "I think that as a result of the economic down turn and budgetary crisis, the city is scrambling fo revenue any way it can get it, so they turn to the common man and levy yet another tax or fine that we can't bear. It's amazing to me how we pay so much money in taxes and there never seems to be enough. Maybe we should start holding these politicains accountable for how they spend our hard earned tax dollars."
Marisol, a fellow Brooklynite, sums it up this way. "It's another way the government is babysitting us," she observed. "As a people, we are not taking responsbilities for our actions, anymore. We should have better manners. If someone needs a seat, you shouldn't hog that extra space."
But what if the person refuses to share the space? "A simple 'Excuse me. May I sit there?' is usually effective enough," Jason adds. "Even if it is followed by a bit of New York City attitude from the seat hogger."
To learn more about subway hoggers and the curious ways they manage to take seats away from unsuspecting commuters, click on www.seathogs.com/tag/mta.
Comments
What happens if someone takes up two seats because they are overweight? This policy seems hard to enforce and arbitrary. Most people move their belongings if you ask them to.
As long as I'm not ticketed.
I say subway pole hoggers should be fined too! You know...the ones who lean their whole body against the pole so you cant use it lol.
Anyways, despite what some have said I doubt this fine will make a dent in replacing fare hikes. It does seem excessive especially if it's a relatively empty train car.
I wonder if this was spurred on by the incident in November where someone was stabbed to death over an argument with someone else over a train seat.
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