MetroCard machines, turnstiles and monitors were smashed to smithereens: vandals destroyed a subway station in Brooklyn

Vandals completely destroyed the toll system at a subway station in Brooklyn. Thousands of dollars will be spent on repairing the damage, according to representatives of public transport. The edition told in more detail NYDailyNews.

Vandals attacked the Clinton-Washington station on May 25, they smashed OMNY readers on the turnstiles, a MetroCard vending machine and digital information and advertising screens.

Margaret Wenig said she saw the damage as she left the station on May 25 in the afternoon just after the vandal attack. Several police officers arrived at the scene, and a station employee cleaned up the mess.

“It’s hard to imagine what state the person who did this was in,” Wenig wondered. “I was frightened, upset. Needless to say, people who needed to buy a MetroCard or pay were extremely inconvenienced.”

New York City Department of Transportation (MTA) spokesman Dave Stekel said the vandals caused "tens of thousands of dollars" in damage.

“This is a major inconvenience to New Yorkers who are now forced to wait longer,” Stekel said.

Not the MTA's only problem

OMNY is a one-touch payment system. It will become the city's only metro and bus fare system after the MTA phases out the MetroCard at the end of 2023.

On May 23, thousands of passengers saw that their cards had been erroneously rejected when they tried to pay. MTA officials said it was a software issue with the supplier, Cubic, which also uses similar payment systems in other transport systems, including the London Underground's Oyster card and the Chicago Transport Authority's Ventra card.

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MTA officials said the glitch affected only 0,5% of the subway's 3 million commuters and was resolved by the morning of May 24.

However, MTA Chairman Janno Lieber suspended the launch of the boarding system through all doors on buses. Passengers are currently required to enter through the front doors on local bus routes, although the agency has installed OMNY readers on all doors on every bus.

Public transit advocates have pushed for years for the MTA to allow passengers to board and pay from any door to speed up service, but public transit officials fear it will increase rates of fare evasion and sent out earlier this month to bus drivers a memo stating that they should not automatically open the rear doors at stops.

Lieber said only 15% of bus passengers use OMNY and he does not plan to allow passengers to board from the back until all passengers use the system.

“It would be unfair to open the door and restrict it to people who only pay through OMNY,” Lieber said.