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MTA Renovations Say Farewell To Baby Back Ribs Of Death, Hello To Feng Shui
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Sep 23, 2013
Modified Sep 23, 2013
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Courtesy Rachel Pincus' flickr
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Sep 23, 2013
Modified Sep 23, 2013
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Recent history suggests there's absolutely nothing in the world New Yorkers would rather do than wait on a line, whether it be for an iPhone, a Cronut, a Shake Shake Cronut Concrete a Ramen Burger, the Rain Room or another Cronut. But New Yorkers do not like waiting on lines to get through subway turnstiles, so the MTA is planning to do a little station redecorating, which the New York Times likens to feng shui and Disneyland, the unequivocal Happiest Place on Earth [For People Who Love Lines]. Oh, and they're getting rid of some of those baby-back ribs of death turnstiles, too.
According to the Times, the MTA is planning to undertake a $900,000 project that'll involve tweaking the layout of some subway stations to prevent painful turnstile backup, a scourge for rush hour commuters from all the lands. Some tweaks include getting rid of some of those dreaded revolving high-turnstiles and putting in extra turnstiles at more crowded stations, presumably so we never, ever have to experience sheer horror like this. They'll also be moving some of the emergency exits "to prevent temptation," so people will hopefully stop setting off alarms every ten seconds.
Many subway stations have experienced a major increase in ridership over the past decade or so, like (surprise) the Bedford Ave L stop, where the few turnstiles are veritable death traps on weekday mornings and evenings. "Four turnstiles probably made perfect sense 20 years ago when it wasn’t a crazy station," Bill Amarosa Jr., a ridership and revenue analysis manager at New York City Transit, said. "Now we need to put in as many as we can."
Yes please! Other cool things the MTA says they'll be giving us soon: WiFi and cell service everywhere, digital subway kiosks, a successor to the Metro-Card and maybe, just maybe, that Second Avenue Subway they've been talking about so much. But there is some Bad: fare hikes.
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Rebecca Fishbein
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