Fear of the subway is about something much deeper than personal safety, writes RyuSpaeth
Subway riders directed to shuttle buses after a mass-shooting incident closed the Sunset Park station April 12. Photo: Andres Kudacki A few years ago, the New York City subway was regularly snarled by an elusive trickster who liked to surf the exterior of carriages, sneak inside, and pull the emergency brake.
It is true that the subway is nowhere near as violent as in the bad old days of the 1970s, when graffiti blared from the walls and muggers stalked the compartments. But it is also obvious that the subway has changed in recent years. Stations have gone to seed. People are sleeping in the carriages and smoking on the platforms. Reports of crime have gone up even as ridership has plummeted.
This is not normal, nor is it acceptable. There are far less dangerous subway systems around the world, some with barriers on the platform to prevent people from falling or being pushed onto the tracks. Such a reform to New York’s subway system, however — and really any reform that is more than cosmetic — is basically a pipe dream, thanks to the exorbitant costs, the age of the infrastructure, and the dynamics of state government. There is a sense that nothing is being done.
The D train on April 13. Photo: Andres Kudacki The fear that the subway engenders, on one level, is about personal safety. I’m not afraid to ride the subway, but during the lowest depths of the pandemic, when passengers stuck out like lonely monuments on an otherwise barren landscape, I was conscious of my Asianness and often preferred the double layer of anonymity afforded by mask and sunglasses, looking something like H. G. Wells’s Invisible Man.
The Adams administration doesn’t want you to see this. Its policy is to almost literally sweep these undesired elements under the rug. I see things all the time on the subway that frighten me: people who need but aren’t getting medication; eyes that burn with a dull fire of loathing; an old man struggling up the stairs with no one to help him.
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