When the Washingotn Post published the Tom Toles cartoon above on July 3, a few loyal Second Ave. Sagas readers e-mailed it to me and noted how the idea can apply to the MTA also. The MTA, often more concerned with putting on a pretty face, spends money on luxuries instead of on more frequent service, some might contend.
I’m particularly intrigued by the notion here that station art may come at the expense of more reliable travel and service. In my opinion, station art and the MTA’s Arts for Transit programs are positives. They beautify stations that may otherwise may appear dour and depressing. The cost outlay is minimal compared to the amount the MTA spends on station upkeep, and scraping the program wouldn’t automatically provide the entire city with frequent service at all hours of the day.
Every weekend, when Friday rolls around and these weekend service advisories mount up, we complain about the the slow and hard-to-follow service. While I agree with others that service has seemed less-than-exceptional lately, I don’t think the answer to the MTA’s service woes is to scrap the Arts programs. The answer, instead, lies in securing adequate funding for the system through the congestion fee. As the odds of that worsen, we’ll just have to deal with a system strained to its economic limits.
And now your weekend service summary: New changes on the Q; still no 4 service between Brooklyn Bridge and Atlantic Ave.; and the West Side IRT express trains are running local. As always, everything else is here.
Safe travels this weekend.
2 comments
really, i could careless about the artworks at the stations. i mean its pretty to look out, but if you want art, buy it yourself or go to a museum, not at the subway station. the MTA could use the money for better service.
maybe better service first, artwork last.
There’s a few misconceptions here.
In the first place, station beautification comes out of a different budget. The option to spend less on artwork, and more on service, simply doesn’t exist.
In the second place, if you want better service, you ought to be happy about weekend service diversions. Those diversions take place to maintain and upgrade the system, without which better service (or even the current level of service) would not be possible. When you have a 24×7 subway, when exactly do you expect them to maintain it?
In any event, you are correct that the cost outlay for the arts programs is minimal. It’s not as if you could scrap station beautification and start running a Culver Express instead.