By: Carl Schwartzbaum

In an ironic twist that even the most jaded New Yorker might find maddeningly familiar, private security guards hired by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to deter fare evasion in the subway system are, in some cases, enabling it.

According to a recent investigation by The New York Post, unarmed guards from Allied Universal Security Services — the world’s largest private security firm — were caught holding emergency exit doors open at the busy Herald Square station, effectively giving fare-beaters a free pass. The Post’s reporters witnessed multiple incidents of this practice, observing commuters casually walk up to the emergency gates, exchange a few words with a guard, and proceed through without paying.

“Whenever the gate opens, nobody wants to pay,” admitted Romuald Zampou, a 52-year-old Allied guard from The Bronx. “They say, ‘You’re not a cop,’ and you can’t stop it. Once they cross the gate, you have to let them in.”

Zampou, who works five eight-hour shifts a week for roughly $800, described a litany of excuses offered by fare-evaders. “My phone is busted, my card has no money, card doesn’t work, the clerk said I can go through,” he recounted while speaking to The Post. “Two people go in on one swipe. Most people don’t want to pay.”

The situation undermines the MTA’s own investment in combating fare evasion, a problem that bleeds the agency of as much as $800 million annually, according to its own estimates.

In 2022, the MTA quietly inked a multi-million dollar contract with Pennsylvania-based Allied Universal for 500 guards, specifically tasked with addressing fare-beating at subway turnstiles. That force has since doubled, with 1,000 armed and unarmed guards now patrolling New York City’s subway system. To date, the MTA has paid out $35 million for these services, according to the report in The New York Post.

Despite that investment, the results speak volumes. The New York Post’s on-the-ground observations reveal not only unarmed guards allowing scofflaws through, but armed guards — who can make up to $100 an hour — loafing outside stations or taking extended coffee and smoke breaks.

At the Herald Square station, where three armed guards are supposed to be posted near the MetroCard machines from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., The Post noted that no armed guards were present during multiple visits over the past three weeks. At West 96th Street, two armed guards were observed spending the first hour of their shifts outside — one smoking a cigarette, the other a cigar — before taking multiple coffee breaks and spending considerable time chatting with NYPD officers rather than monitoring entrances.

One insider quoted by The New York Post described a culture of negligence and accountability voids. “The higher-ups are all aware of what’s going on, and they’re doing nothing about it,” the source said. “And the MTA keeps paying that money each month.”

Some guards, the source added, sleep through shifts in their cars or disappear into nearby diners for hours at a time.

This disarray adds another layer to longstanding criticism of the MTA’s stewardship of its $20 billion annual budget. Earlier this year, The New York Post reported on the MTA’s decision to spend $1 million in federal grant money to fund a study on the psychology of fare evasion — an expense that drew widespread ridicule.

Even Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy recently lambasted the MTA’s financial practices, accusing it of “gross mismanagement” after the agency lobbied for additional federal support.

MTA spokesperson Kayla Shults was blunt in her condemnation: “Holding an exit gate open for riders to enter without paying is illegal and unfair to millions of New Yorkers who do pay, regardless of whether you’re a vendor or anyone else.”

Allied Universal, meanwhile, has remained conspicuously silent — refusing to comment on The New York Post’s findings or provide a public explanation for the apparent systemic failures in its contract performance.

The revelations arrive as the MTA struggles to stabilize its finances amid persistent fare evasion, declining public confidence, and controversial measures like congestion pricing and proposed fare hikes. The irony of security guards — hired at a high cost to protect the system’s integrity — actively abetting the very behavior they were paid to stop is not lost on riders.

“It’s infuriating,” said one commuter quoted anonymously in The New York Post. “We’re being told to expect higher fares and congestion tolls, while the people hired to prevent fraud are standing by — or worse, holding the door open.”

Given the scale of the failures documented, many are now calling for a full audit of the MTA’s contract with Allied Universal. Critics argue that if fare enforcement continues to fail, the agency’s credibility — already bruised — could take a permanent hit.

For now, one thing is clear: the MTA’s costly partnership with Allied Universal has yielded little public benefit, and The New York Post’s reporting has shone a much-needed light on a security strategy that appears more performative than protective.