Trainspotter Posted December 23, 2007 Share #1 Posted December 23, 2007 Stations spruced up for press events BY PETE DONOHUE DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Saturday, December 22nd 2007 [float=right] On Dec. 3, the Times Square station got a fresh coat of paint.[/float]If there's a fresh coat of paint at your subway station, the bigwigs are on their way. Transit workers painted support columns on the platforms and in the passageways of three major Manhattan hubs in recent weeks - all on the eves of press conferences, the Daily News has learned. Two of the events featured Gov. Spitzer and Mayor Bloomberg while the third was held by MTA CEO Elliot Sander. Crews also spruced up a Brooklyn station Thursday as word spread that Sander would be dropping by for an informal visit Friday. [float=right] The paint job was just in time for a ceremonial launch of the 7 line expansion.[/float]"I gotta figure a way to get the governor to my station in Brooklyn," quipped Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign, a rider advocacy group. "It needs an overhaul." Several straphangers were furious when told about the timing of the face-lifts. "It shouldn't be done just when the governor comes to town," said Nakia Plummer, 25, a nonprofit case manager from the Bronx. Audrey Jones, 65, a health care aide from Brooklyn, said, "They should clean it all the time ... not just for politicians." Brooklyn High School student Quashawn Mabry, 15, said she welcomes all improvements, but added: "I don't think they should raise the fare." The MTA board voted Wednesday to increase fares and tolls. Maintenance workers who paint the stations earn between $26 and $28.64 an hour. More than a dozen workers converged on the Rockaway Parkway station on the eastern end of the L line in Canarsie, Brooklyn, Thursday as word spread that Sander would be dropping by Friday, workers said. They scrubbed the joint, did spot painting and even hung new signs, the workers said. "That's nice but they shouldn't spend all that money on that when we've got a fare hike," said rider Linda Davis, 29. Sander visited the Canarsie station Friday as part of his ongoing effort to visit sites around the system, MTA spokesman Jeremy Soffin said. The other spruce-ups occurred at Grand Central before the Nov. 19 ceremonial signing of a federal agreement for funding of the Second Ave. subway; at Times Square before the Dec. 3 ceremony marking the launch of construction on the 7 line extension, and at the 14th St. station of the Eighth Ave. line before the Dec. 6 announcement of a new pilot program. Soffin declined to comment on The News' findings. Meanwhile, NYC Transit released the results of two more rider surveys. Riders on the and lines gave the routes D-plus ratings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TransitGuy Posted December 29, 2007 Share #2 Posted December 29, 2007 I always found it dumb that they always have to "spruce" up a station when a big head is coming in and yet normally these stations are pretty bad. I think if these politicians want to look good they would enter the station in the way it looks like and order that the station as well as many other be maintained. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sebbieprops Posted December 31, 2007 Share #3 Posted December 31, 2007 Just because no politician visits them, it's no excuse to neglect the stations in the outer boroughs. If they're going to keep some of them well maintained, they ought to do it with them all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pablo M 201 Posted December 31, 2007 Share #4 Posted December 31, 2007 Maybe the higher ups need to visit more stations and often...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Posted January 1, 2008 Share #5 Posted January 1, 2008 Maybe the higher ups need to visit more stations and often...... I hope they visit my home station sometime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pablo M 201 Posted January 1, 2008 Share #6 Posted January 1, 2008 I hope they visit my home station sometime. Well, they were doing something at Ft Hamilton Parkway because when I was down there last friday, the wall on the southbound platform had fresh paint. They do that alot at most Sea Beach stations, to paint over the graffiti, but Ft Hamilton Parkway walls were clean when I passed through there the week before, unless the vandals got to it within that period of time. Might be a one station at a time thing so they'll probably come down the road more. Don't worry Harry, when they decide to do major station rehabs on Sea Beach, they'll come by you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOB2RTO Posted January 1, 2008 Share #7 Posted January 1, 2008 I would love while they are having their press conference, for a huge glob of nasty brownish/greenish slime to just fall from the pipes above on them, for all the cameras to catch and see. Maybe some will fall into a couple of their mouths, as it falls while they speak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pablo M 201 Posted January 1, 2008 Share #8 Posted January 1, 2008 I would love while they are having their press conference, for a huge glob of nasty brownish/greenish slime to just fall from the pipes above on them, for all the cameras to catch and see. Maybe some will fall into a couple of their mouths, as it falls while they speak. Tell them go to Chambers Street on the lines before they rehab it...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOB2RTO Posted January 1, 2008 Share #9 Posted January 1, 2008 Tell them go to Chambers Street on the lines before they rehab it...... I've been to that station, when I trained at Fresh Ponds when I was doing the qualification tests for B/O. The slime in that decrepit station, OMG. NASTY! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pablo M 201 Posted January 2, 2008 Share #10 Posted January 2, 2008 I've been to that station, when I trained at Fresh Ponds when I was doing the qualification tests for B/O. The slime in that decrepit station, OMG. NASTY! Thats why I try to avoid that station like a plague sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sebbieprops Posted January 2, 2008 Share #11 Posted January 2, 2008 Chambers Street, 149th/Concourse, and Fordham Road ( are the three worst stations (in terms of cleanliness) in the system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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