It was another rainy day in New York City. Lewis and I arrived at our local subway station, and there was a problem… as usual. We endured a delay because the train remained at the prior station for 9 minutes. The official reason was vague (as usual): “delay due to police activity”. That usually means the police intervened against a raving homeless person, drug addict, or a violent assault. Sometimes, it infers a suicide. Eventually, that train was abandoned by the system, and another train came to our station. The subway route from our home in Astoria, Queen, is the N/W (yellow) line, and it has the only diagonal route in Manhattan, on its way to Brooklyn. It goes to all of the most popular destinations. Regardless of that prestige, NYC’s Metropolitan Transit Authority still uses antiquated trains from 1975 for that entire route. They lack proper ventilation, clocks, digital information screens, and screens that show the upcoming stations.
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Like all of the trains in New York State, ours was dirty (the uncaring government relies on rain to clean its fleet). Despite being the year 2023, we stood on a train that was 48-years-old that had a leak in the roof, which caused a puddle on one of the seats.
Does your train ever have leaks in the ceiling? Are your trains 40-years-old? These things are like a third-world city.
After moving through only two stations, the train was stopped for another delay: “train traffic ahead”. Surely that was a lie because no trains were seen during the previous 15 minutes. After 7 more minutes, the train remained at the station—getting overcrowded by oncoming passengers. Abandoning our intention to ride into Manhattan, we exited and decided to have breakfast at a café in the area. We were happy to evade the pushy passengers.
(Yes, as I previously mentioned, New Yorkers wear too much black... as a result of their dirty city).
In Astoria, the stations (built in 1912) are above-ground because NYC was greedy/miserly and chose the cheapest way to install a subway (uncaring of the everlasting blemish that overshadows the local communities). So, we descended from the platform to the turnstiles, on our way down farther to the street. We were aghast that the floor around the turnstiles and employee-booth was flooded with rain water! Three buckets were in the middle of the walkways, collecting leaks from the ceiling.
It looked like a third-world country.
We were also appalled because the station was recently “refurbished” by the MTA, four years ago! That project was predicted to necessitate 6 months, yet it consumed 1.5 years! Thousands of residents who overpaid $3,000 per month for a studio apartment that was “near the subway” were deprived of it, and everybody was compelled to walk half-a-mile to the next station (for 18 months of all types of snow, rain, humidity, heat). For a major leakage to occur so soon on a “refurbished station—with a new roof” was insulting and unforgivable. Demonstrating the MTA’s uncaring attitude, the (overpaid) employee in the booth stepped out and poured his unwanted drink onto the floor! That’s terribly rude. It really seems like MTA workers live in barns.
Displaying another aspect of the uncaring MTA, that man did nothing as two young men leaped over the turnstiles (to illegally avoid paying). Within a moment, a woman illegally hopped over the turnstiles. Lewis and I see that criminal behavior more and more.
As a born-and-bred Manhattanite, Lewis is reminded of how life was in the 1980s, as hundreds of New Yorkers hated the subway so they didn’t pay for it… yet the MTA didn’t care.
That behavior is returning, and neither the overpaid MTA Police nor the overweight cops of the NYPD do anything. (I suppose that’s consistency because the NYPD ignores a yearlong spree of shoplifting that follows a three-year trend of looting retailers. Crime is unstopped while police demand pay increases). Despite its veneer of advertising, NYC never really moves beyond its old problems.
Sloshing across the station’s floor, we went down the stairs… listening to the runoff-water dripping to the ground. The café was one street from the station, and when we entered it, the train was still stalled.
Elevenses is an artisanal café that opened one year ago alongside a restaurant from Spain. It is one of the few in the county that performs on-site baking: croissants, danishes, and viennoiserie are served directly from the oven. That's great! Due to its newness in an "up-and-coming" area (an area neglected by the city until insatiable developers arrived from Brooklyn and demolished/rebuilt stuff), it wasn't crowded.
The seasonal menu was written on a chalkboard. We shared a tart filled with summery rhubarb and blackberries over custard. Delish! I also chose a croissant because its layers looked perfect, and its flakiness was ideal. That is indicative of talent in the kitchen.
A well-armed barista ground beans freshly for my latte, and the foam art looked pretty in a handmade ceramic mug. Each mug has different characteristics.
After a blissful hour in the sanctity of homemade baking, we returned to the station. The streets of NYC are always filthy and strewn with litter. It's disgusting whenever you use them.
The steps of subway stations are equally unclean.
We sloshed through the expanded puddles. As we swiped our Metrocards to pass through the turnstiles, we saw four people jump over them to illegally avoid paying. Going upstairs to the platform, we noticed that the next trains were woefully behind-schedule, arriving within 9 minutes… and then after 30 minutes.
That's absurdly slow! That is why you see New Yorkers running to catch subway trains; they never know when the next might arrive.
On the platform, we looked around and observed a lack of cleanliness and disregard of maintenance: graffiti, entire windows smudged, broken lights, vacant sign frames, litter strewn on the platform, and an uncleaned grime that darkened the yellow border by the platform’s edge. (In every other city in the world that we visited, those things are clean and tidy). When you realize that MTA employees are overpaid at $100,000+ per year, it’s intolerable that they don’t do what they’re supposed to. (That’s also consistent with NYC because its overpaid sanitation workers leave trails of trash on nearly every street).
Finally, the dilapidated train arrived, to take us back home.
It’s air-conditioning (from 1975) didn’t work, so windows were opened. Neglected for years, the lights barely worked, and their drab glow added to the glum atmosphere.
Compelled to use shabby outdated trains angers New Yorkers because the transit authority could afford to make improvements but they haven't stopped their embezzlements since the 1890s. Last year, the MTA was given $3 billion to finish a 200-foot tunnel. It only applied $1 billion to the project (which is still not entirely completed), and $2 billion went to "consultations". That's insane. Yet nobody was fired and no investigation occurred. Taxpayers were outraged because their money funded it. (During that same time, London finished a humungous tunnel-digging project for the Elizabeth Line, with several new-and-huge underground stations! That is money well-invested.)
As the old train rattled ahead, a raggedy-dressed man laid on a seat; he looked like a homeless guy with a hangover. His odor forced everyone to the other end of the car. A beggar entered the car and pestered everyone to give him money. Then, he spoke to the homeless guy. “Where are you riding this to? Where’d you come from? Got anything to drink?” Their conversation sounded exactly like the hoboes who rode New York’s trains in the 1930s during the Great Depression. Some things never change. In fact, the bum's shirt had an American flag... indicative of this society.
The train slowly moved ahead but was delayed again at the station before ours. This time, there was a backlog of trains at the end-of-the-line, and several trains waited for space to enter that station before they reversed on the route. For the prior 14 years, the MTA uncaringly allows (overpaid) train engineers to arrive late for their trains. Therefore, thousands of overpaying passengers are stranded until an engineer arrives to drive a waiting train. During those many years, Lewis and I saw engineers arrive—always slowly and never rushing to regain lost time—while carrying shopping bags, or takeaway food… which indicates that they were late due to self-serving activities.
Nothing has been done to solve those issues, and they exist in every borough. After 10 more minutes, our train moved ahead, and we got off at our station. As we exited, we saw a woman jump over the turnstile. The MTA employee in that booth did nothing, and we’re certain that the three surveillance cameras over the turnstiles aren’t used.
This is what it’s like to live in America’s richest city.
