Home MTA Absurdity Does anybody really know what time it is?

Does anybody really know what time it is?

by Benjamin Kabak

wrongtime.jpg

Location: Approximately two-thirds of the way uptown on the uptown-bound 8th Ave. A/C/E platform at West 4th St.

Actual Time: 9:39 a.m.

The MTA is not known for its accuracy in time-keeping. As Chris pointed out yesterday, those signs on the L train platforms, just a few months old, are already fairly useless. As trains enter and leave the stations, the signs proclaim the train is still seven minutes away.

So enter the West 4th St. station. Every morning, I see the clock pictured above – but not Photoshopped quite so much – wishing straphangers a good day. The sign hangs above the escalators leading up to the 8th Ave. platforms from the 6th Ave. trains on the lower level. This clock has never been right. Furthermore, it’s an hour and 14 minutes off.

Now, if you’re like me, you’re wondering how a clock manages to be an hour and 14 minutes off. I have no idea, but it’s been like this for months. In a few weeks, I’ll get to find out if this is a system-wide error or if this clock is just messed up. When Daylight Savings time ends on November 14, this clock will either be just 14 minutes wrong or an hour of 14 minutes wrong. I doubt it will have the right time.

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5 comments

jk October 4, 2007 - 4:36 pm

Even a broken clock is right twice a day?

Reply
Benjamin Kabak October 4, 2007 - 4:38 pm

jk: Nope. This clock is always an hour and 14 minutes slow. It counts down minutes and second, but just not in sync with anything else.

Reply
Larry V October 4, 2007 - 5:35 pm

Haha broken clocks are right twice a day, but slow ones are always wrong.

Reply
Does anybody really know what time it is? :: Second Ave. Sagas March 9, 2010 - 1:49 am

[…] slow and misguided over the years. Another reason is because the clocks are wrong. As I noticed two and a half years ago, clocks at W. 4th St. were an hour and 14 minutes slow. Today, they’re still an hour and 14 […]

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The signs of a customer-focused approach :: Second Ave. Sagas August 3, 2011 - 9:35 am

[…] how to deliver that information to the subway system. At West 4th St., for instance, clocks that had the wrong time in 2007 still don’t keep an accurate hour. If those could be used to notify customers of the last B […]

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