Peeling paint. Water leakage. Mold on the ceilings.
When asked what he thought of riders who complain about dirty subway stations, MTA head Jay Walder bluntly admitted yesterday, “They’re right.”
The top boss of New York City’s transit system confessed they’re not doing enough to keep stations in tip-top shape.
“During each financial downturn the first thing to go is the cleaning and maintenance of the stations,” said Walder. “We’ve done a good job of keeping the trains clean, but we haven’t treated our stations the same way.”
Going forward, Walder promised to do more, such as clean areas of stations that generally go untouched, like ceilings, conduits and high tiles.
For riders the candor from the MTA boss confirmed what they already knew. Most said that a cleanup can’t come soon enough.
“It’s disgusting,” said Peter Richards, waiting for the J at Chambers Street, where the walls were covered in water stains and the ceilings were flaking off. “If they keep raising the fares, we should at least have clean stations.”
Trash on the platform at 149th Street in the Bronx attracts rats, said Annika Chambers, 24.
For Benjamin Taylor, 34, there’s a smell on the Union Square 4,5 platform that is either “puke or sewage.”
