“Rotting wood separating from the platform; dangerous gaps between the train and the platform; metal beams breaking away from deteriorating concrete, jerry-rigged with thin metal struts – systemwide, the subway infrastructure is not being properly maintained and people are getting hurt. Someone has to answer for this inexcusable incompetence,” Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) said in his “Safer Subways” report which surveyed the condition of 93 stations citywide, released today at a press conference. Hikind was joined by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer in compiling the report.
 
Of the 93 stations surveyed, more than 60% were rated with severe safety hazards. The survey was initiated after three constituents contacted Assemblyman Hikind with their close encounters of the dangerous kind in the subways.
 
A fourteen-year-old had fallen off the platform after the rotted wooden rubbing board at the edge o f the platform gave way beneath him, launching him into the path of an incoming train. He pulled himself to safety with seconds to spare. Another constituent, a senior citizen, was traumatized as she sat in her vehicle, when a piece of the rail from the elevated subway tracks plunged 30 feet and slammed into the roof of her car, shattering her windshield, missing her head by centimeters. Another teen, seventeen years old, Yossi Hershkop, had his shoe slip between the train and the platform. He would have been dragged along with the train if he had not successfully wrestled his foot out of the gap.
 
“Last week, after news of MTA’s budget gap, I insisted that the shortfall not be made up on the backs of hardworking New York City commuters. This week, with Assemblyman Hikind’s report, the other shoe has dropped: There’s just no room for shaving the cost of subway service and maintenance. All I can say is that Richard Ravitch and his commission have their work cut out for them. If we’re going to preserve current fares and maintain safe stations, we must find new revenue streams for mass transit,” said Manhattan BP Scott Stringer.
 
After reviewing Assemblyman Hikind’s report, Assemblyman Peter Abbate (D-Brooklyn) said, “It’s time for the MTA to step up and make repairs before someone is seriously injured or dies.”
 
Councilman Bill de Blasio added, “Maintaining safe subway platforms across our City can be a life and death matter. It shouldn’t take another tragedy for the MTA to make the repairs necessary to ensure the safety of all riders and keep our system up and running.”
 
“If I had these cracks, fissures, gaping holes, corrosion in the sidewalk in front of my home or on any wall in my home, I’d be slammed with violations,” said Hikind. “How is the MTA getting away with this kind of structural neglect? Who’s in charge? With 1.5 billion riders every year this is malpractice of the highest order.  If any structure in New York City would be in such a state of disrepair, it would be condemned. This is inexcusable. It’s criminal. What is it going to take? And to add insult to the injuries, the M TA is floating another two-pronged assault, with two proposed back-to-back fare hikes. Hell no! Not when the MTA is so unconcerned about rider safety that they are effectively telling straphangers to go to hell. ‘Subway’ shouldn’t mean substandard. The MTA needs to clean up their act now before we have a tragedy on our hands.”

Meanwhile, a subway riders advocacy group, the Straphangers Campaign, has released its annual report on the city’s 22 subway lines, saying the timeliness and quality of service on most lines has deteriorated from the previous year.

The 2007 “State of the Subways” report card analyzes service in key areas including wait time, regular arrival, a chance for a seat, clean cars, and understandable announcements.

According to the so-called shmutz report, the best subway line in the city is the L because of its regular service and announcements and clean cars. However, the line still experiences significant crowding at rush hour, the report said.

The 7 line is also one of the city’s best trains. Both the 7 and the L are part of a pilot “Line General Managers” program, which puts specific managers in charge of the route.

The W was ranked the worst subway line because of its low level of scheduled service. It also performs below average on four other measures: regularity of service, car breakdowns, car cleanliness and announcements.

The report found that 17 lines worsened from the previous year (1, 4, 6, A, B, C, D, F, G, J/Z, L, M, N, Q, R, V and W), while just five lines improved (2, 3, 5, 7 and E).

Overall, the Straphangers found a weak showing for subway service. Car breakdowns worsened from a mechanical failure every 156,624 miles in 2006 to one every 149,646 miles in 2007.

Subway car announcements deteriorated from 90 percent in the second half of 2006 to 85 percent in the second half of 2007, the report said. Regularity of arriving trains and car cleanliness also failed to improve.

(Yehuda Drudgestein – YWN / WNBC)