A dubious distinction for 138th Street

Over the past few months, Transportation Alternatives has been pushing its Rider Rebellion campaign on the public. They want to show how transit riders support “affordable fares, better service and the end of service cuts.” In essence, its goal is to convince politicians to invest more heavily in the system to avoid decay, and they’re trying to do so by highlighting some of the more unsavory aspects of the system. Recently, they named 138th Street/Grand Concourse the smelliest system in the station to highlight how budget woes have led the MTA to cut cleaners. It’s quite the dubious distinction.

“We asked our fellow transit riders to stand up, cover their noses and tell us which station smells the worst,” Paul Steely White, TA’s executive director, said. “While recent budget cuts by the state legislature have forced subway riders to deal with higher fares and less frequent trains, it has also led to cutbacks in the general upkeep of stations. Stations have got dirtier and smellier and the conditions are unacceptable.”

The 138th Street station edged out 34th St./Herald Square, Jamaica Center and Grant Ave. in a text poll. Unfortunately, though, only 229 folks voted so the results aren’t entire scientific. Still, the point remains: Stations aren’t as clean as they should be, and riders have to suffer the stench because of it.