[pram]

Yeah I was in NYC for the first time this year and I was impressed by the filth and general dilapidation. The subways are exceptionally dirty, and the stations/trains along the A line seemed to be in advanced decay.

It’s nowhere as bad as Chicago though ;P

[aristophenes]

It’s not that they don’t pay people to clean up. I used to get on the A at the very first stop. The train would be parked until it was time to go, and there was a whole crew of cleaners. The cleaning went like this, the workers would start in each separate car, when the doors opened they’d walk in, then walk towards each other trailing their mops, sit down and start talking. That was the cleaning that the MTA was paying for.

This used to drive me nuts. Then one day a high level supervisor came on the train, and a group of the cleaners were in the car I was sitting in. He sat down with them and proceeded to explain how if they went to this certain building and filled out some paperwork they would start getting paid $40 per hour. He was going around, not inspecting work, but on behalf of their union, explaining how to work the system.

The MTA is the worst, and taught me the dangers of some unions. I never saw an MTA employee working. Once I saw 4 MTA employees standing around as two contractors changed light bulbs. NYC has a heavily utilized subway system, and it definitely isn’t free. But they can’t even pay the expenses for maintenance let alone improvements without tax payer support because of these leeches. This is why NYC and elsewhere are like this, people not doing what they are paid to do.

[mlevental]

r/thatHappened why do people post stuff like this? completely unverifiable and highly exaggerated at best complete fabrication at worst

[aristophenes]

Because I lived in NYC and rode the subway multiple times every day all over the place and this is what I experienced. Lots of data points collected that were all consistent. Of course you don't have to believe me. I provided a couple short examples that demonstrated what I was talking about. I've seen plenty of other things but they are more difficult to explain. If you have routinely used the NYC subway and had a different experience please share, otherwise just take it as the impression from a fellow HNer.

[mlevental]

cool man. i lived in nyc too and rode the A and C all the time never witnessed anything but white glove service.

>otherwise just take it as the impression from a fellow HNer. on the internet everyone is a dog

[starpilot]

We've almost come full circle to back when people despised cities for being dirty and admired suburbs for being clean and affordable.

[bobthepanda]

For a very long time (‘30s-‘80s) the subway had almost no funding go to maintenance. It got to the point where parts of elevated structure were falling onto the streets and people below.

It’s gotten much better since then, but the MTA barely gets funding for current maintenance, let alone funding to clear the backlog. Most recent fare increases have been to service debt issued to clear said backlog.