Can we please drop the sappy self promotion of "financial and entertainment capital of the world" and get real i.e. the old but good side of American empiricism

Can we please drop the sappy self promotion of "financial and entertainment capital of the world" and get real i.e. the old but good side of American empiricism? Thanks. Articles mentioning the plain incompetence of America's civil engineering projects always hit me hard. It's so bad. You'd think with the number of MBAs we graduate or time we'd get our act together. But no. The Gothamist article runs the same old story trajectory here: a bad example, then drilling a bit closer to root cause, then pointing people know the current situation sucks and why, ending with a time will tell or variation on same. It's underwhelming. Another example: 108th street in queens has been ripped up, some plumbing or electrical work done, then repaved about once every 1-3 months for the last 10 years. I also fairly familiar with nyc subways and how it's run day to day. It's embarrassing ... it's 10 parallel universes from European standards. Escalators are slow, and down a lot. More money is spent I feel sure telling you what isn't working, and what all the schedule changes are, than what the normal schedule is. This is a 6 train running on the 4 line ... this is a F train running on the E line ... is often heard. Then there's moms -- what I call them -- ladies usually on bullhorns telling you how to get off the subway and which escalator to use. That's their job: yack into a bull horn and tell you the stunning obvious. Another unsightly subway aspect: temporary closures of platforms. Some moron uses plastic tape in the most unsightly way to cordon off access ... it's straight out of a slum. A temporary gate, or better yet, using electronic signage to redirect people would be better and a damn sight look better.