Hundreds of token booth clerks were laid off Tuesday - essentially for the second time in a week.
The 250 clerks were hours from turning in their uniforms and badges last Thursday when NYC Transit was forced by a court order to slam on the brakes.
Over the weekend, transit officials issued another round of pink slips - and this time, a judge refused to intervene.
"It's like a yo-yo," said Laurenia Jarrett, 27, carrying a plastic garbage bag holding her uniforms into a NYC Transit building in Brooklyn.
Jarrett, who is seven months pregnant and has an 8-year-old daughter, is her family's sole breadwinner, she said. She plans to file for unemployment and look for work.
"It's a horrible situation to be in," she said. "I took this job for security, and that security is now gone."
The MTA was set last week to lay off 475 clerks and close 42 token booths. The union, however, filed a lawsuit alleging state law requires additional public hearings to shutter booths, and a judge issued a restraining order to stop the closures.
But over the weekend, transit officials decided that 250 employees were not needed to keep the booths open and moved forward with those layoffs while the lawsuit proceeds.
Upkar Doad, 34, said clerks were feeling "a little psycho" from the emotional roller-coaster ride. He doesn't know how he'll continue to take care of his father, 70, and mother, 65, who are retired.
"I'm feeling nervous," he said. "I'm feeling worried."
Token booth clerks and Transport Workers Union Local 100 officials said they don't believe the MTA is in a financial crisis, pointing out the NYC Transit division has job postings for some six-figure management positions.
"For the last 16 years that I've worked here, the MTA has always cried poverty, and when all was said and done, they had a surplus," Local 100 Vice President Joe Bermudez said.
MTA executives have said the authority is attacking a deficit of nearly $800 million, citing declining tax revenues and state funding cuts as major reasons. Even in bad times, however, large organizations still need to fill some positions, a spokesman said of the management job postings.
To balance its books, the MTA is eliminating nearly 3,000 positions in total from its various divisions.
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