The MTA says it plans to take “appropriate disciplinary action” against a booth agent who was filmed flipping off a straphanger in the West 4th Street Subway Station Tuesday morning. Filmmaker Jonathan Pillot says he started arguing with the MTA agent after he “went insane” on an elderly woman ahead of him who asked for a senior citizen’s discount. A union rep claims Pillot started hurling obscenities first, but since he only began filming when the agent gave him a double bird, it’s hard to say what happened.
The agent could face termination, but Pillot told ABC New York there’s a bigger lesson to be learned. “It’s not about what should happen to him because I’m sure he had a rough day. Maybe he does that all of the time, maybe he doesn’t, I don’t want to judge, I don’t know,” Pillot said, “People watch stuff on television on the internet and its willy nilly and people think it’s okay. It doesn’t just happen on a reality show, it happens in real life. We need to treat each other better no matter the circumstances.” Especially because, much like on a reality show, someone could be filming you at any moment.
