NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A child’s head got caught in one of the MTA’s new fare gates in Manhattan on Tuesday, raising concerns about the safety of the transit authority’s latest attempt to crack down on fare evasion.
According to the FDNY, a 911 call was made after the child was caught in the gate at the Broadway-Lafayette station in NoHo at about 1:40 p.m.
The incident was caught in a distressing video that has now gone viral, showing a little boy screaming for help after his 5-year-old sister was caught in the door, and he was separated from his family.
The injured child is OK, according to fire officials, and was removed from the gate prior to emergency response. She was transported to NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The incident comes only days after a woman’s head got caught in a fare gate.
The new gates were added to the 138th Street, Third Avenue and Broadway-Lafayette stations a few weeks ago for testing, with the MTA planning to replace all turnstiles at NYC’s nearly 200 stations by 2029.
“The new fare gates are a pilot program using technology from transit systems around the world,”MTA Spokesperson Eugene Resnick said in a statement. “As we evaluate their performance, we’re learning more every day about how to design modern, effective fare gates for New York City.”
1010 WINS spoke to subway riders who saw the viral video, with one man calling it "tragic." He shared that he’s not sure the new gates are the best use of MTA funds.
“They’re just wasting money, in my opinion,” he said.