MTA honcho Janno Lieber shouted at pugnacious pol Tuesday over the agency forking over $35 million to a private security contractor whose guards were caught opening emergency doors open for fare beaters.
The off-the-rails exchange unfolded as Lieber testified about the transit agency's budget in Albany, where state Sen. Mario Mattera (R-Smithtown) quizzed him about the contractor, Allied Universal Security Services.
Lieber testily shot down the Long Island lawmaker's assertion that the contractor is based in Pennsylvania and plowed ahead as the lawmaker tried to pivot to another question.
"Let me finish! Let me finish!" Lieber screamed.
Undaunted by Lieber's yelling, Mattera pressed ahead: "Why do we have people helping people avoid tolls? It's on video."
"It has reduced fare evasion by 36%, mister," Lieber screamed again.
The prickly pair continued shout-talking over each other until state Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow (D-Mount Vernon), the hearing's chair, interrupted with a thundering "Shut up."
Lieber's irritation came after longstanding concerns that the MTA isn't doing enough to stop fare evasion in the subways and on buses.
The forever cash-strapped agency lost nearly $1 billion from turnstile jumpers, bus fare scofflaws and toll dodgers in 2024 alone, according to a recent Citizens Budget Commission's analysis.
The private security guards were tapped in late 2022, but their effectiveness was called into question when The Post revealed they were turning a blind eye -- and sometimes lending a helping hand -- to fare jumpers.
Lieber's claim during the hearing that fare evasion in subways dropped 36% after the guards were stationed appears to be inflated.
MTA data indicates that 13.5% of all subway riders in late 2022 skipped the turnstiles. The percentage dropped to 10.1% by the same point three years later -- a 29-point decrease.
The problem is even bigger on buses, where 49% of passengers are estimated to have skipped payments during the last three months of 2025, according to MTA data.
Lieber said he wants fare evasion across the MTA's entire system to be around 10%.
"I actually think we're south of 10% on the subways," he told lawmakers, acknowledging buses are nowhere near that mark.
When pressed by lawmakers, the transit boss -- who got Gov. Kathy Hochul and lawmakers to greenlight a record $68.4 billion capital plan for the MTA during the last budget -- didn't have any hard numbers on fare evasion.
He instead pulled numbers out of his head that lowballed the cost of fare evasion, at least compared to the watchdog Citizens Budget Commission.
"I'll do the math in my head," Lieber said. "It's gone down by a third from when it was probably peaking in the area of $800 or $900 million, so it's in the $500 to $700 million number. It's a huge number."
Lieber admitted fare evasion is a serious issue, but still his spat with Mattera hinted at some irritation over being called out. He said the security guard program now costs less than $35 million, but didn't detail how much.
After the shouting match stopped by his own "shut up," Pretlow urged both Lieber and Mattera to be respectful.
"I am being respectful and somebody's not answering questions properly," Mattera said.
"Let me apologize also," Lieber said. "I shouldn't raise my voice."
Pretlow himself apologized and admitted as questioning wound down," "This hearing kind of went off the rails but we got it back on track."
MTA officials didn't return a request for clarification on Lieber's remarks.