One of the most important aspects of any commercial or residential building is its emergency exits. If there is a fire or other disaster, able-bodied people should be able to safely escape through these doors. However, in New York City, New York, the emergency exit doors have allegedly made doing just that far more difficult. One MTA user recorded a station that reportedly fitted some of their emergency exit doors with delays of up to 15 seconds. Why? It apparently helps prevent fare evasion.
The above video was posted to TikTok by user @newyorklab.co. This profile focuses primarily on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, better known as the MTA, alongside other features of New York City. In this particular video, he shows how the emergency exit that allows passengers to leave the station he was on had a timed delay.
He clocked the delay at about 15 seconds, which is truly an incredibly long time, should there be an actual emergency. He then goes on to say, “It feels slightly illegal, doesn’t it? Like, what if there was an actual emergency and everyone was trying to leave the station, and you couldn’t even open the door.”
According to a sign on the same door, the delay is to help prevent fare evasion. However, considering the way doors work, this is meant to prevent that from happening.
New York Subway Station Exit Doors Sport New Time Delay
Other commentators chimed in with their own opinions, many of which condemn the delays. One of the top comments even says, “Completely negating the purpose of the emergency doors thats so crazy.”
A different commentator suggested calling the fire department, seeing as it is their job to prevent this sort of thing, saying, “call the Fire Department those guys have crazy municipal power when it comes to stuff like this.” In a similar vein, a different person said, “Delayed egress is not allowed in occupancy A buildings, subway stations are typically classed as A3. Report it to the fire marshal. ❤“In reality, there are so many different things that can occur on top of whatever emergency is happening, just because of the delay.
A different commentator brought up the point of crowding, saying, “That’s how crowd crush will happen in a panic situation 😰.” Crowd crush is the result of many people crowding into a single area, resulting in the accidental trampling of others. In most cases, this can be fatal. Regardless of whether this particular door is the only one with a delay, I would like to think that the MTA will reconsider placing it on other doors.
