Game on: New Yorkers start the “Fare Evasion Olympics” as scourge continues to cost the MTA big bucks

The “Fare Evasion Olympics” went viral on social media as a team of in-shape, acrobatically skilled fare-beaters put the new glass gates at Manhattan’s Broadway-Lafayette Street, which were installed in December, to the test on Jan. 8.

Screenshot via Instagram/newyorkers

The Winter Olympics will open in Italy next month, but the “Fare Evasion Olympics” arrived in New York City last week.

The forbidden spectacle went viral on social media last week as a team of in-shape, acrobatically skilled fare-beaters put the new glass gates at Manhattan’s Broadway-Lafayette Street, which were installed in December, to the test on Jan. 8.

Hosted by “The Danny Fisher Show” on Instagram, the video – posted on Instagram on Jan. 17 — showed participants used their best athletic skills, like climbing and jumping, to win the comical subterranean sports competition. Spectators cheered on the games as MTA workers watched and even recorded the event. 

“We’re here outside of Broadway-Lafayette in SoHo for New York City’s very first fare evasion Olympics,” Fisher, appearing as a sportscaster, exclaimed at the station. “They truly went all out. They’ve installed new state-of-the-art turnstiles, really to challenge our competitors.”  

The competition kicks off as three athletes meticulously stretch and prepare to leap over the newly installed, transparent entry gates. The modern barriers, part of a billion-dollar MTA initiative to upgrade subway entries across the system, set the stage for the challenge. 

As competitors hopped over the glass doors into the modestly sized space above them, crowds applauded and cheered, while the host gave a play-by-play of the fare-avoiding moves.

“I’ve never seen anything like it!” Fisher yells into a microphone above the screaming crowd.

The prize: a one-way OMNY ride

Commuters find ways to get a free ride despite the MTA’s efforts to combat fare evasion in the subway system.Photo by Dean Moses

The winner received $3 in the form of a giant celebratory check to pay for a single subway ride. The champion said he was going to use his winnings to go on a trip to Myrtle Avenue-Broadway in Brooklyn.

It’s not clear whether the participants actually beat the fare in advance of recording the spectacle. What’s telling is that only one of the three lights above the fare gates flashed red when one of the “competitors” passed above the doors; the lights remained green over the other two gates.

When someone attempts to enter without paying, a loud alarm, similar to the “X” sound made when someone answers incorrectly on the show “Family Feud” blares throughout the station.

amNewYork contacted “The Danny Fisher Show” for comment about the spectacle and is awaiting a response. 

Either way, the stunt, which was held at midnight — along with other passersby who have been spotted breaching the expensive gates without paying — showed how easily people can still evade the fare.

amNewYork contacted the MTA, but officials did not comment on the video.

Fare evasion is an ongoing scourge for the MTA. In 2024 alone, it lost nearly $1 billion in both fare and toll revenue. 

The updated fare gates at the Broadway-Lafayette Street station will also be implemented in 20 other stations across the borough. They were also installed in the Bronx’s Third Avenue-138th Street station last month. The gates are clear, taller doors that swing open once payment has been scanned.

The agency allocated around $1.2 billion from its $68.4 billion capital plan to install the gates into the system. 

While fare evasion is not new, the criminal activity saw a major uptick during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, starting in 2020. Since then, the MTA has tried numerous ways to stop the scourge. 

With the launch of its Blue Ribbon Panel in April 2022, the MTA, as well as city officials,  increased law enforcement, awareness and a variety of tangible efforts to stop fare beaters from breaking the law. 

A woman goes through a turnstile in a station with new half-moon style “turnstile sleeves.” Photo by Dean Moses

Throughout 2025, the agency implemented a variety of costly and creative tools to curb fare evasion in the subways, including turnstile sleeves, spiked barriers and additional gate guards. 

The efforts have helped. Jai Patel, the MTA’s chief financial officer, said in September that evasion dropped significantly in recent years.

“In the last few years, we’ve made significant progress,” she said. “Overall, subway fare evasion is down 29% this year, and where there are gate guards at stations, it’s down 36%.”

Meanwhile, people who watched the Fare Evasion Olympics online mostly laughed, but also recognized the seriousness of the issue in New York.

“All these new fare evasion videos have me cracking up,” one Instagrammer wrote. Another said, “Interesting, they are robbing the city.”

Fisher, in the video, gave his own take on how the transit agency might feel about the Fare Evasion Olympics.

“You can tell they respect the sport,” the host said with a heavy dose of sarcasm.