The New York Times > New York Region > Subways Are Stalling, and the Riders Are Screeching

A few months ago, I got an email from my dad. He had forwarded to me an email from a friend of the family's. Knowing that we were from New York City, this friend had asked my dad what the Natives thought were the best places to go in NYC, and dad had subcontracted the job out to me. I had a several good ideas, but one that to many people might seem strange. I told my friend to take a subway ride. Now, my friend is a bit of a train junkie, so in many ways, this was a logical suggestion, but even if my friend hated trains, I would still tell him - ride the subway. I speak from experience, I rode the subway for two years back and forth from my home in Manhattan to my high school, in Brooklyn. Being allowed to ride the train was like being allowed to drive, it gave me so much freedom. The trick is that driving makes no sense in the City, there's WAY to much traffic. The only way to get around is by public transit, bicycle, or walking. The subway, at least when I rode it, was pretty good. Sure, it was a little slow on the weekends when I had a Saturday morning piano lesson in Brooklyn, but on weekday mornings, during rush hour, you could count on a train every five minutes, ten at the outside. Not only was the subway a good way to get around, the system itself was this fascinating underground (and above ground) network of tracks and stations, filled with interesting people and secrets. In New York, EVERYONE rode the subway. I used to ride to school in the morning with Wall Street titans. In the stations I heard music from many musicians - some of whom are actually really good (and the MTA has begun to sponsor them in a program called Music Under New York.) In my letter to our friend, I described the subway as "New York's circulatory system" A few days ago, I got another email, this time from a New Yorker. I had asked her what was going on in the City, what people were thinking of various things (Mayor Bloomberg, the prospect of the 2012 Olympic Games, etc). She brought up the Subway, complaining of rising fares and declining service. She wrote that it "Really sucks." Her sentiments were echoed today in a New York Times article. It saddened me then to think that this circulatory system, which I actually grew to love, is on such a decline. New York City has had a rough time, financially, since 9/11, and so it is understandable that some things get left behind as the city tries to focus on other priorities like security. But the City just cannot afford to let the subway system die. When a New York Times article starts out saying that "For the third time in less than a week, New York City subway trains were halted yesterday and thousands of commuters were delayed at the peak of the morning rush," I know that things are pretty screwed up. According to the Heritage foundation, New York accounts for 40% of the nations public use. As far as I am concerned, NYC is setting an example for the rest of the country. The city cannot afford, economically, environmentally, or politically, to allow its circulatory system to get blocked.