Judge Rules MTA Must Reopen Station Booths

New York, NY —

A state civil court judge has ordered the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to reopen, and restaff, 42 subway station booths that she says the MTA improperly closed in May.

The ruling, from Judge Saliann Scarpulla, comes just days after she threw out the MTA's plan to close 100 more booths, and lay off more than 200 station agents.

There is now a dispute over whether the MTA must rehire some 266 workers that the Transport Workers Union says were laid off as a result of the booth closures.

The TWU says the MTA doesn't have enough people to re-staff the 42 booths. The MTA says it will appeal the judge's decision. It holds a board meeting tomorrow and is likely to set the schedule for the public hearings on the closures.