But she goes out of her way to avoid a subway clerk near her home who is surly about opening the gate for strollers.

His father was a subway token clerk.

Like the other day, Friday, half the subway clerks taking a day off.

The subway clerks complain of growing hostility from riders and say they themselves are shouldering too much of the blame for the token booth lines.

Stella Kaufman, the wife of the subway clerk burned in Brooklyn, hopes it is the path to her husband's healing.

That was the last time a subway token clerk was killed until yesterday.

"I have paid a big sacrifice," said Ms. Colbert, who retired from her job as a subway token clerk three years ago.

Transit officials did not blame Mr. Kaufman, but said subway clerks sometimes covered the sensors to smoke on duty, which is against regulations.

Alone on the basketball court, jumping and tossing outside shots, Paul Rodriguez, a subway token-booth clerk, expressed the same concern, but with greater outrage.

"They show up just for fund-raising," Jim Cusick, a subway token clerk, said.