August 5, 2004
The City's Dirty (and Clean) Subway Stations
The New York City Transit Riders Council announced the dirtiest subways in New York at the 205th Street station in the Bronx, which a NYCTRC spokesman called "the most decrepit station I've ever seen in all my travels across the city." The NYCTRC has released a 2004 Station Conditions Report (PDF) of conditions in 50 city subway stations. Four of the dirty five are in the Bronx (number 1 being Moshulu on the 4) and one is in Brooklyn (the L stop at Atlantic Avenue). Some of the signs of a poor station, from the 29 factors: Peeling paint, rusted metal, eroding pillars, old subway maps, water drips, outdated subway maps. Gothamist can only hope that subway repair happens in the Bronx (interestingly enough, the Post noted that at the NYCTRC press conference, there was a cleaning crew at 205th Street), but we guess that the MTA focuses efforts on stations with lots of traffic. How the MTA gets anything done with a deficit, we don't know, but we know that making sure existing subways are taken care of should come before other efforts.
Grand Army Plaza's 2/3 station in Brooklyn and the 21st Street-Queensbridge F in Queens tied for cleanest. The cleanest stop in Manhattan is the West 81st Street B/C at the Museum of Natural History; the dirtiest is 47-50 Street Rockefeller Center's B/D/F/V station. Check out the report - it's actually fascinating reading, with lots of suggestions on how to continue to improve stations, which have improved since the NYCTRC's last study in 1994. And here's the Straphanger's State of the Subways Report Card.
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You should note that this survey is only a sampling of the stations in the city. So that station in BX may be nasty, but you don't know for sure unless you check ALL stations. Mine wasn't checked.
why is that my station and why am i not surprised...i also get off at the moshulu station
they may be nasty but will they fixed in the near future is the real question???
im glad 161st-yankee stadium was such a priority
yeah, i was gonna say this has to be a sampling. I mean, CANAL STREET? That one wins just by its mere closeness to Chinatown (arguably one of the filthiest neighborhoods in new york and smells so lovely in the summer, yum!) Plus all that mysterious dripping stuff - - in all seriousness that's a disgusting station, one to avoid at all costs if possible, especially if wearing any kind of sandal or flip flop. Franklin Ave. on the C is also home to the foulest stench imaginable - like raw sewage every time you get off the train.
I don't know if this falls under the Port Authority or MTA's authority, but the long corridor connecting the 7 Train to the PA bus terminal has to be the foulest smelling spot in NYC. I don't know if it's the lack of ventilation or mutual neglect via burden sharing by the two agencies, but it stinks like raw sewage. In addition, the corridor features the most suicide-inducing piece of public art I've ever seen. Affixed to the steel beams that run the length of the passageway, one can read this Burma-Shave style ode to futility:
SO TIRED
LATE FOR WORK
GET FIRED
WHY THE PAIN?
JUST GO HOME
DO IT AGAIN
Like commuting from Jersey isn't bad enough?
yeah, what is with that smell in the Franklin Ave. stop? It seems to always linger around those office doors and the elevator, too. No where else.
Maybe it's me, Maybe my nose is just a little to strong. Has anyone noticed the faint, to thick smell of gas in the all of the stations along the "G"line between Metropolitan Av-Grand St.& Clinton-Washington Av's? This is not something that has surfaced recently! It's been going on for years!!!!! People have complained about it for years to no avail. The fire department has been to all of these stations and can't seem to find the source of the smell. Believe me when I tell you this, It's been there for YEARS! Back when the "G"train was referred to as "The Ghost" because of the infequency of service! The answer to your thought is "Yes", The MTA was working on the "G"line back then as well!!!!!!