A sign once useful. (Photo by Benjamin Kabak)
While roaming the York St. platform Monday afternoon waiting for a Brooklyn-bound F train to arrive, I came across this neat scene. This is no optical illusion. Rather, it is a sign — of half of one — reflecting in a mysterious piece of stainless steel ceiling panel. The letters are cut off slightly above the halfline, and although some are nearly mirror images, many are not. The words are just jumbled.
For the MTA, this sign is another in a long line of poorly placed panels. Perhaps not as egregious as the since-corrected sign fail at Atlantic Ave., this one still shows a left hand/right hand problem. It appears that, due to some structural issues with the York St. ceiling, crews put in place the metallic panel to bolster the ceiling or product passengers from something dripping. Instead of rehanging the sign to make it visible, they…just left it there. And now it’s blocked.
For a critique on MTA signage, check out Allan Rosen’s latest on Sheepshead Bites. For more scenes from the subways, follow Second Ave. Sagas on Instagram.
1 comment
Those panels are to collect dripping water (or sewage). Usually there is a plastic pipe running down a support column dumping the water into a drain grate on the platform, or going through the platform floor and draining onto the track bed. One day the ceiling will collapse from the neglect 🙁 Not sure whether to blame MTA for lack of sealing the leaks (screws sticking out of the concrete with a dried orange/beige morter/plastic/epoxy/foam around the edges of the screws, most often done around 2000s installed ADA elevators), or blame DEP for leaking sewer (which are always above the subway tunnels) and drinking water pipes (again, always above the tunnels).