According to City Councilman, Peter Koo of District 20, subway stations are not as clean as they should be. In fact, according to Koo some stations are too dirty to be in at all and changes must be made. On Wednesday, May 23, 2012, the City Council suggested that the subway stations in New York City receive letter grades.
Mayor Bloomberg instituted a system in 2010 that grades restaurants on appearance, food handling, food temperature, personal hygiene, and vermin control.
“We grade the restaurants, right? A, B, C. So we should grade all the stations in the MTA system” Peter Koo said.
Just as restaurants are graded on cleanliness, rats, safety, and other aspects, subway stations should have to undergo the same report. The City Council believes that the MTA should conduct the tests.
Spokesman of the MTA, Adam Lisberg immediately rejected the idea by the City Council stating that they already give statistics about the equipment and appearance of subway lines and the stations were already available.
Many in the black community ask, just who will this affect most. Will it be those who take the subway on a day to day basis?
“When a neighborhood is better or is improving, then the stations usually are cleaner, I’ve seen it happen. What’s going to happen if our stations don’t pass the test?” Nakita Beach, 22, a regular commuter of the F train said.
Neighborhoods that don’t pass the test will be impacted the most if the City Council has the letter grades instated. Members in the black community wonder if trains could be shut down altogether, forcing riders who use stations that aren’t kept as clean to have to commute to other stations.
Many believe that this new set of rules for subway stations will not change the daily commute for many New Yorkers.
“I see rats constantly, but am I going to take another subway train so that I see fewer rats? No. The City Council needs to focus on more important aspects that plague our city, like trying to end “stop-and-frisk” or anything for that matter, just not
Ricky Grant, 25, a regular commuter on the D train this” Alex Dyer, 23, a regular commuter on the R and 7 train said and agreed and said, “This is just a waste of the city’s money! Why on earth spend so much money on something that will stay the same no matter what rules are instilled. People litter, the MTA already does what they need to do, what more does the City Council want?”