NEW YORK - Idiots, morons, a danger to the riding public. Those are the words MTA officials are using to describe the person — or group of people — causing havoc by pulling the emergency brakes of trains, disrupting service for thousands of riders.

“This is stupid, it's dangerous, it’s selfish and it’s got to stop," NYC Transit President Andy Byford said.

"This is life or death stuff involving really complicated dangerous machinery that could endanger the lives of transit workers just doing their jobs and our customers," MTA Chairman Pat Foye said. "It's serious."

Officials say they are analyzing dozens of incidents since January, including several that occurred Tuesday evening on the 2 line, when the brakes of multiple trains were pulled in the same manner — from the inside of a train cab — before the vandal escaped onto the tracks.

Sources gave NY1 internal reports of several incidents, including three on Tuesday night when the brakes of the same northbound 2 train were pulled on 14th and 79th streets and the brakes of a second train were activated on 18th Street.

The operator of one of the trains said the vandal was wearing a Yankees hat, smiled at him and made "obscene gestures" with his hands.


Byford, the MTA official overseeing the subways wants a new state law cracking down on the brake pullers.

"What I'd like to do with the legislature is to get very harsh penalties in place for people who commit anti-social behavior in whatever form that takes," Byford said. "I would love to be able to catch these people, I would like them to face the consequences of their actions and I’d like to ban them from the subway. Right now, we don't have that power, we are actively seeking it."

Officials say they were reluctant to publicize the problem until now because of the potential for copycats — but decided to speak out to enlist the public's help.