The third annual “State of the Platforms” report by the Straphangers Campaign, released on Wednesday, showed higher reports of rats at Bronx train stations. This finding led the way for the Borough having the most rodents compared to the other four.
“We found what many riders know from bitter daily experience: Many subway platforms are grim and dreary,” said Jason Chin-Fatt, the Straphangers Campaign field organizer. “Making observations at every platform allows us to paint a more in-depth picture of the conditions that riders experience travelling through the system.”
According to www.straphangers.org, volunteers surveyed 826 platforms that were open and not under construction. About 21 percent of rats were spotted in underground platforms in the Bronx, compared to 15 percent in Brooklyn, 13 percent in Queens, and 10 percent in Manhattan.
The group found that four of nine conditions they observed- exposed wiring, substantial areas of missing tile, graffiti, floor cracks – appeared to have grown substantially worse from 2012 to 2013. Five conditions grew better or stayed the same: rats, broken lighting fixtures, broken handrails and staircases, peeling paint, and water damage.
According to the Borough-to-Borough Comparison of Conditions Observed at Underground Platforms, the Bronx had the worst conditions with Brooklyn lagging behind at second.
“Safety is our top priority when it comes to the condition of our stations and platforms and all safety-related defects are repaired in short order. In 2012, over 39,000 defects were repaired and we are projected to complete more than 53,000 in 2013, a 36 percent increase,” said the MTA in a released statement.
“The items in the straphangers report highlight elements that would be extremely costly to keep in perfect condition and would do little, if anything to either improve or make stations safer.”