To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

The agency says more than 600 administrative positions will also be cut.

All together, the cuts represent 15 percent of the administrative payroll across the MTA.

The cash-strapped agency is hoping the cuts will help plug a budget hole that was projected in December at more than $383 million deficit. Since the budget passed, the MTA says an additional $378 million gap has developed based on revised state revenue projections.

A new tax that was put in place last year as part of an Albany bailout failed to bring in as much revenue as the agency had expected.

The staffing cuts are expected to save the MTA nearly $50 million.

The reduction in subway station agents was originally supposed to happen through attrition, but the extra budget shortfall is forcing the layoffs and reassignments.

Hundreds of bus drivers could also be laid off as part of the agency's proposed service cuts slated to take place this summer.

Jay Walder, the MTA chairman and chief executive officer, said he is doing everything he can to make sure the agency efficiently spends its money.

“This is just the beginning of a comprehensive overhaul of how the MTA does business," said Walder. "We will be reducing overtime, consolidating redundant functions and working with suppliers to lower costs. We will not stop until I can say that every dollar the MTA receives is spent wisely.”

The Transport Workers Union is already firing back at the job cut plan, saying the savings would add up to less than one percent of the MTA's budget.

The union's president, John Samuelson, said cutting the number of station agents would put the safety of riders at risk.

"I was kind of shocked they would implement it this quickly. So once they came out with their implementation, now it's our turn," said TWU Vice President Maurice Jenkins. "We're a militant organization, so fighting is what we do. If they want a fight, we're going to bring it to them."

Some New Yorkers told NY1 on Tuesday they could not understand how the MTA is always having financial difficulties.

"I think it's terrible because we're paying more money and nobody's getting anything," said one rider. "No one is winning. We're not winning; the workers aren't winning. So where is the money going? It doesn't make sense to met."

"I think that's horrible and I think there should still be people in every booth and every train station," said another.

"I guess they're trying to balance the budget," said a third. "Nobody wants to see anybody laid off, but they have to make ends meet. And one way or another, somebody has to be responsible."

"To me it's a lot of hanky-panky going on," said yet another straphanger. "It's tricks and tricks and more tricks. We hope that someone will step up and say something and let their advice be heard because they cannot be done. This cannot continue."

There are about 70,000 MTA employees, and agency officials say more layoffs could be down the line. Non-union employees who resign will be offered a severance package.

Public hearings on the MTA's cuts are set for next month.