The latest plea to save hundreds of subway station agents from the MTA's budget cuts is now coming from House of Representatives. Three Democrats sent a letter to MTA chairman Jay Walder, "We strongly urge you to re-evaluate the current plans" and not, potentially, "compromise" subway security.
The NY Times reports that the letter came from Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Mississippi), Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas; chairwoman of the transportation security subcommittee), and Rep. Yvette D. Clarke of (D-Brooklyn; chairwoman of the subcommittee on emerging threats), who acknowledged the MTA's budget woes but called the station agents "an important link in the transit security chain":
Although our domestic transit systems have thus far been spared, deadly terrorist attacks in Spain, Great Britain, India and Russia over the last few years have emphasized the vulnerabilities of public transportation in large urban areas and demonstrated the security challenges unique to these open, passenger-heavy systems...
The case of Najibullah Zazi is a chilling reminder that our transit systems are targets of Al Qaeda and its affiliates.
MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan told the Times, "The subway system. is the safest it’s been in years, thanks to the vigilance and dedication of the N.Y.P.D., and there will continue to be a strong presence of M.T.A. employees throughout the subway system," while TWU president John Samuelson points out that station agents can field riders' concerns (you know, See Something, Say Something!).
