Comments on: Southern Brooklyn stations may be too far gone to paint

By: A good Paint Job

A good Paint Job — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 15:01:49 +0000

[...] Southern Brooklyn stations may be too far gone to paint [...]

By: Todd

Todd — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:48:19 +0000

I’m all for volunteering to help clean things up, but I’m fairly sure the unions would shut that down real quick like.

By: herenthere

herenthere — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:39:41 +0000

Why not just hire people who need community service or who have nothing to do? After hearing Barack Obama’s call for greater involvement within the community, adjacent residents of stations could help paint and do simple work to help revitalize stations at little cost to the MTA but with a renewed sense of community pride.

By: Boris

Boris — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:58:12 +0000

You can’t really compare the Chinese government and the MTA. China’s state power is concentrated, while the MTA is a nearly independent entity largely forgotten by the federal government. Both China and the MTA have their priorities in order; it’s the feds and MTA who disagree.

It’s an illusion that our local semi-government entities are free to do what they want, to have their own priorities. Bush has managed to hurt public enterprises thought to be well shielded from elected-politician vagaries. It’s just that he chose to oppress the Iraqis, instead of his own citizens. And money was misappropriated in America too, as can be seen in the effects of Katrina.

Friedman points out these shortcomings of the current Administration. The governments of both America and China make tradeoffs, generally in favor of the rich and well-connected. We just happen to already have a higher average standard of living.

By: Eric the BeehiveHairdresser

Eric the BeehiveHairdresser — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:05:15 +0000

As someone who lives off the 95th Street station I really want my station and the ones the trains ride through to be safe, however, at the same time can someone at the MTA please wait for a couple of trains at 45th Road on the 7 line and tell me that the 45th Road Station even feels safe?

That 45th Road station sways violently way back and forth while the 4th Avenue R & West Farm Road 5 stations are both solid as a rock.

By: Kid Twist

Kid Twist — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:30:13 +0000

An excerpt from Tom Friedman’s column:

No, it was the culmination of seven years of national investment, planning, concentrated state power, national mobilization and hard work.

Friedman (and you) are being naive here. Here are some helpful reminders:

Concentrated state power in China = repressive dictatorship.
National mobilization/hardwork = builldozing the homes of 1.5 million people toi make way for the Olympics and rounding up gangs of peasants for backbreaking labor.

Remember the earthquake in China a few months ago? Substandard school buildings collapsed on top children all over the country. But construction continued on shiny new sports venues meant to impress Western elites.

By comparison, it sounds like the MTA actually has its priorities in order.

Tom Friedman needs a clue and you should be a little more careful with the grand generalizations.