By Brandon Sapienza
When people think of New York City, many think of the vast system of underground tunnels that connect all the five boroughs. Many of these people don’t know the complete mess that lies underneath the greatest city in the world.
Being a native New Yorker and having rode the subway every morning for four years in high school, I know first-hand that the system is in dire need of repair. Between the smells, the trash on the tracks, the old trains and delays, the system needs help quickly.
I remember each day in high school I saw a flyer on one of the columns in the stations talking about an initiative to clean up the stations. Upon returning the next week, I found everything looked the same and, in some cases, even worse.
A few months ago, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) announced plans to revamp the system into the modern era, making it cleaner, faster and safer for the thousands of New Yorkers who take the subway every day. The plan outlined by the state would take at least five years and cost taxpayers nearly one billion dollars.
While many people appreciate the effort by the municipalities, the MTA needs to find a way to cut through the red tape and get this done faster than scheduled.
The New York City subway is an icon in my great city. However, with each day passing, all stations built before 2017 are deteriorating. If the city and state want to regain the trust of its commuters, they finally need to live up to their word and get the job they outlined done and on time.
sapienbm17@bonaventure.edu
