5 ms·

This is how I see New York City. Living there I was so used to it, then I went to San Diego for a wedding, couldn't believe my eyes when I saw people walking ar

This is how I see New York City. Living there I was so used to it, then I went to San Diego for a wedding, couldn't believe my eyes when I saw people walking around outside barefoot. Because everything was clean, why not? Everyone else wore sandals, I was the only one wearing shoes. I came back to NYC early Monday morning, rode the subway from JFK and had to walk through Times Square to get where I was going. Times Square on a Monday morning, cleaning up from the weekend, is so gross. Of course trash, also urine and vomit and food smashed into everything, broken glass, etc. Of course all that and more in the subway, and rats here and there. The wind tunnels that are the streets blowing the detritus in your eyes, basically aerosolized rat feces. Stepping over little rivers of dog, or even human, urine was routine anywhere. And this is Manhattan, one of the greatest concentrations of wealth anywhere.

pram 8y ago
Yeah I was in NYC for the first time this year and I was impressed by the filth and general dilapidation. The subways are exceptionally dirty, and the stations/trains along the A line seemed to be in advanced decay. It’s nowhere as bad as Chicago though ;P
- starpilot 8y ago
  We've almost come full circle to back when people despised cities for being dirty and admired suburbs for being clean and affordable.
- aristophenes 8y ago
  It’s not that they don’t pay people to clean up. I used to get on the A at the very first stop. The train would be parked until it was time to go, and there was a whole crew of cleaners. The cleaning went like this, the workers would start in each separate car, when the doors opened they’d walk in, then walk towards each other trailing their mops, sit down and start talking. That was the cleaning that the MTA was paying for. This used to drive me nuts. Then one day a high level supervisor came on the train, and a group of the cleaners were in the car I was sitting in. He sat down with them and proceeded to explain how if they went to this certain building and filled out some paperwork they would start getting paid $40 per hour. He was going around, not inspecting work, but on behalf of their union, explaining how to work the system. The MTA is the worst, and taught me the dangers of some unions. I never saw an MTA employee working. Once I saw 4 MTA employees standing around as two contractors changed light bulbs. NYC has a heavily utilized subway system, and it definitely isn’t free. But they can’t even pay the expenses for maintenance let alone improvements without tax payer support because of these leeches. This is why NYC and elsewhere are like this, people not doing what they are paid to do.
  - mlevental 8y ago
    r/thatHappened why do people post stuff like this? completely unverifiable and highly exaggerated at best complete fabrication at worst
    - aristophenes 8y ago
      Because I lived in NYC and rode the subway multiple times every day all over the place and this is what I experienced. Lots of data points collected that were all consistent. Of course you don't have to believe me. I provided a couple short examples that demonstrated what I was talking about. I've seen plenty of other things but they are more difficult to explain. If you have routinely used the NYC subway and had a different experience please share, otherwise just take it as the impression from a fellow HNer.
      - mlevental 8y ago
        cool man. i lived in nyc too and rode the A and C all the time never witnessed anything but white glove service. >otherwise just take it as the impression from a fellow HNer. on the internet everyone is a dog
- bobthepanda 8y ago
  For a very long time (‘30s-‘80s) the subway had almost no funding go to maintenance. It got to the point where parts of elevated structure were falling onto the streets and people below. It’s gotten much better since then, but the MTA barely gets funding for current maintenance, let alone funding to clear the backlog. Most recent fare increases have been to service debt issued to clear said backlog.
inferiorhuman 8y ago
New York, midtown specifically, doesn't even come close to how disgusting San Francisco is. Hell, San Francisco's mayor — London Breed, told off the last tourist who complained to her about how much litter there is in San Francisco.
- woah 8y ago
  It would not be politically tenable for her to do otherwise
  - redisman 8y ago
    First of all how dare you point out problems
  - inferiorhuman 8y ago
    > It would not be politically tenable for her to do otherwise Sure it would. Both as a supervisor when this happened, and now that she's mayor. Telling tourists to fuck off only ends poorly for a town like SF that depends so heavily on tourist money.

pram 8y ago

Yeah I was in NYC for the first time this year and I was impressed by the filth and general dilapidation. The subways are exceptionally dirty, and the stations/trains along the A line seemed to be in advanced decay. It’s nowhere as bad as Chicago though ;P

starpilot 8y ago
We've almost come full circle to back when people despised cities for being dirty and admired suburbs for being clean and affordable.
aristophenes 8y ago
It’s not that they don’t pay people to clean up. I used to get on the A at the very first stop. The train would be parked until it was time to go, and there was a whole crew of cleaners. The cleaning went like this, the workers would start in each separate car, when the doors opened they’d walk in, then walk towards each other trailing their mops, sit down and start talking. That was the cleaning that the MTA was paying for. This used to drive me nuts. Then one day a high level supervisor came on the train, and a group of the cleaners were in the car I was sitting in. He sat down with them and proceeded to explain how if they went to this certain building and filled out some paperwork they would start getting paid $40 per hour. He was going around, not inspecting work, but on behalf of their union, explaining how to work the system. The MTA is the worst, and taught me the dangers of some unions. I never saw an MTA employee working. Once I saw 4 MTA employees standing around as two contractors changed light bulbs. NYC has a heavily utilized subway system, and it definitely isn’t free. But they can’t even pay the expenses for maintenance let alone improvements without tax payer support because of these leeches. This is why NYC and elsewhere are like this, people not doing what they are paid to do.
- mlevental 8y ago
  r/thatHappened why do people post stuff like this? completely unverifiable and highly exaggerated at best complete fabrication at worst
  - aristophenes 8y ago
    Because I lived in NYC and rode the subway multiple times every day all over the place and this is what I experienced. Lots of data points collected that were all consistent. Of course you don't have to believe me. I provided a couple short examples that demonstrated what I was talking about. I've seen plenty of other things but they are more difficult to explain. If you have routinely used the NYC subway and had a different experience please share, otherwise just take it as the impression from a fellow HNer.
    - mlevental 8y ago
      cool man. i lived in nyc too and rode the A and C all the time never witnessed anything but white glove service. >otherwise just take it as the impression from a fellow HNer. on the internet everyone is a dog
bobthepanda 8y ago
For a very long time (‘30s-‘80s) the subway had almost no funding go to maintenance. It got to the point where parts of elevated structure were falling onto the streets and people below. It’s gotten much better since then, but the MTA barely gets funding for current maintenance, let alone funding to clear the backlog. Most recent fare increases have been to service debt issued to clear said backlog.

inferiorhuman 8y ago

New York, midtown specifically, doesn't even come close to how disgusting San Francisco is. Hell, San Francisco's mayor — London Breed, told off the last tourist who complained to her about how much litter there is in San Francisco.

woah 8y ago
It would not be politically tenable for her to do otherwise
- redisman 8y ago
  First of all how dare you point out problems
- inferiorhuman 8y ago
  > It would not be politically tenable for her to do otherwise Sure it would. Both as a supervisor when this happened, and now that she's mayor. Telling tourists to fuck off only ends poorly for a town like SF that depends so heavily on tourist money.