NEW YORK CITY (WABC) — The MTA is investigating a TikTok post that appeared to show a subway operator allowing two young people to operate a subway train.
These videos were allegedly recorded back in July and posted on TikTok.
The social media post said the teenagers were the operator’s son and a friend.
The trains were not in service and apparently were being moved from a yard into position for passengers.
One of the videos showed the train approaching the 111th Street station on the J line in Richmond Hill, Queens.
An MTA official said the role of the employee is still being probed.
MTA CEO Janno Lieber confirmed the video is under investigation but said he cannot comment.
He did, however, say, “Somebody who allows someone who is not qualified or certified or fully trained to drive a train ought to be fired. That’s my opinion.”
NYC Transit President Demetrius Crichlow released a statement saying:
“What appears on those videos is reckless and unacceptable, and any transit worker who permits unauthorized, untrained people to operate trains will face consequences, including termination of employment and prosecution to the extent allowed by law.”
The Transit Worker’s Union declined to comment.
One subway rider called it criminal.
“The punishment, I think it should be jail time,” they said.
The post on TikTok showed one young man and then the other young man driving the train while the adult seems to be off to the left, holding coffee.
For the past 12 months, there have been four different investigations regarding similar incidents when a teenager or otherwise unqualified person was driving a train.
The incidents that happened in September, February, March, and July resulted in at least four arrests.
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