From the Daily News:Metrocard. Don't go home with it.
That's the pitch subway hustlers are making to tourists on their way to John F. Kennedy Airport and their flights back home.
"What are the tourists going to do with them?" explained one of the men, showing off a handful of MetroCards he had scored. "Throw them in the garbage? I can hustle and make a buck."
The fast-talkers collect MetroCards at two eastern Queens transit hubs that connect the subway system to the airport-bound AirTrain: Sutphin Blvd./Archer Ave. in Jamaica and Howard Beach.
With the still-valid MetroCards in hand, the so-called "swipers" then sell other straphangers entry into the subway system for less than the $2.25 fare.
Undercover police periodically make arrests for swipe-selling, but most get off with a slap on the wrist.
"If I got arrested, I'd be out the next morning," said the hustler who spoke to the Daily News.
The swindler - who called himself "J" - said he couldn't find legitimate work. But he can make between $30 to $80 a day selling swipes, he said.
"It keeps me full," he said.
One transit worker said some of the hustlers can be intimidating, if not menacing, to tourists laded down with baggage.
5 comments:
seems like good business sense to me (except for the intimidation part)
i wonder how much money the mta makes off of "expired" fare cards. why should a fare card that you've paid for expire anyway?
Take your expired metro cards home and shred them. You would be be doing your part to putting these clown out of business.
Happened to me 3 weeks ago at Archer. Headed out to JFK, and 2 guys were all over me. "Hey ... got your metrocard? Leave it here." I offered to sell it to them, and they got all huffity. Came back through there a few hours later, and the cops were on scene.
Anon# That's a crime,jostling.the other is selling swipes.The cops arrest the skell,then arrest those who pay the skell w/ oga.....
One transit worker said some of the hustlers can be intimidating, if not menacing, to tourists laded down with baggage.
In other news, several subway passengers said some of the transit workers can be intimidating, if not menacing, to workers commuting to work, laded down with baggage.
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