7 train court sq mystery!?

Is it just muscle memory, or do people actually prefer standing shoulder-to-shoulder with 100 strangers?
Court Square only has the one main entrance/staircase setup for the 7. Every single rush hour, as soon as people clear the turnstiles/stairs, 50% of the crowd just freezes right there in the first 20 feet. It creates an absolute bottleneck that blocks access for anyone trying to actually get onto the platform. Meanwhile, if you walk 30 feet further down, the platform is practically empty.
I get wanting to position yourself for your exit at Grand Central or Times Square, but blocking the entire entrance while the rest of the station is wide open feels wild.
Are people just running on complete autopilot during their commute, or is there some secret tactical advantage to piling up at the front that I'm missing?