York City was edging toward a financial crisis; crime had risen citywide (as depicted in the contemporaneous film Death Wish); and the subway was perceived as neither safe nor reliable. At first, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) refused to cooperate with the filmmakers. Godey's novel was more detailed about how the hijackers would accomplish their goal and recognized that the caper's success did not rely solely on defeating the "deadman feature" in the motorman's cab. Screenwriter Stone, however, made a fictional override mechanism the linchpin of the script. Director Sargent explained, "We're making a movie, not a handbook on subway hijacking ... I must admit the seriousness of Pelham never occurred to me until we got the initial TA reaction. They thought it potentially a stimulant—not to hardened professional criminals like the ones in our movie, but to kooks. Cold professionals can see the absurdities of the plot right off, but kooks don't reason it out. That's why they're kooks. Yes, we gladly gave in about the 'deadman feature'. Any responsible filmmaker would if he stumbled onto something that could spread into a new form of madness." For several years after the film was released, the New York City Transit Authority would not schedule any train to leave Pelham Bay Park station at 1:23. Although this policy was eventually rescinded, dispatchers have generally avoided scheduling a Pelham train at 1:23 p.m. or a.m. Sargent said, "It's important that we don't be too plausible. We're counting on the film's style and charm and comedy to say, subliminally at least, 'Don't take us too seriously. The credits have a disclaimer that the Transit Authority did not give advice or information for use in the film. After eight weeks of negotiations, and through the influence of Mayor John Lindsay, the MTA relented, but required that the producers take out $20 million in insurance policies, including special "kook coverage" in case the movie inspired a real-life hijacking. This was in addition to a $250,000 fee for use of the track, station, subway cars, and TA personnel. The TA also insisted that no graffiti appear in the film. "New Yorkers are going to hoot when they see our spotless subway cars", Sargent said. "But the TA was adamant on that score. They said to show graffiti would be to glorify it. We argued that it was artistically expressive. But we got nowhere. They said the