'Hack' Bypasses MTA's Fancy New Anti-Fare Evasion Gates: Video

NEW YORK CITY — A simple "hack" is all it takes to beat the MTA's fancy new anti-fare evasion gates, according to a viral video.

The hack? Just wave your hand over a sensor, according to the TikTok video, first reported by the New York Post.

A man demonstrates this move inside the Sutphin Boulevard-Archer Avenue station in Queens, walks through the opening gate and past a gaggle of NYPD officers, the video shows.

"(No) more hoppin or crawling we walkin now," one commenter posted.

The Post reported that the new gates — which reportedly cost $700,000 at the station — also stay open for roughly five seconds, a span long enough to let more than one person amble through the turnstile.

MTA officials, in response, said the gates are only tactic in their fight against turnstile jumpers.

“The MTA has a multi-layered approach to deterring fare evasion, driven by a blue-ribbon panel’s report, that includes a search for new fare gate technology, police officers, private guards, transit enforcement teams, discount fare programs and soon, a customer-messaging campaign," said Tim Minton, the MTA's communications director, in a statement.

"In addition, MTAPD officers were assigned to encourage payment compliance through wide gates being piloted at Sutphin-Archer station shortly after they were installed there."