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Proving that some subway stations are in a sad, vicious circle of getting worse and worse every year, the NY Daily News selected ten subway stations, with the help of readers, the NYC Transit Riders Council and the Straphangers, that are awful. Bad stations seem to be ones less frequented (five stations in the Bronx, two on the G, and the lone Manhattan station being the J, M, Z station on Bowery) and in poor neighborhoods; other hallmarks are terrible smells and a depressing state of disrepair. Here's the list, with a notable quality or quote:
205th St./Norwood, the Bronx, D line: "A solidified orange ooze hangs from pipes above like chemical icicles."These selections sort of match up with the report from the Transit Riders Council last year; the City Council also found the Bronx typically had the worst stations. The NY Daily News blames these struggling station with a lack of MTA funding. Vote Yes on Proposition 2 for the Transportation Bond Act!
182nd/183rd Sts., Fordham area, the Bronx, B and D lines: "The smell of urine is overpowering."
Third Ave./138th St., South Bronx, No. 6 line: "A cluster of burned-out, uncovered light bulbs hangs from the ceiling."
Bowery, Chinatown, Manhattan, J, M, Z lines: "This station is a throwback to the 1970s. Graffiti marks nearly every pillar, as well as stairwells and walls. There are even scrawls on the tunnel wall inches from the electrified third rail."
Brook Ave., Mott Haven section, the Bronx, No. 6 line: "A revolting odor descends from vents between sidewalk grates and the underground platforms. It comes from catch basins below the sidewalk, where muck and rotting garbage sits."
Fulton St.-Broadway/Nassau, Financial District, Manhattan, J, M, Z, 2, 3, 4, 5, A and C lines [Slated to be included in the new Fulton Street complex]: "A helmet could come in handy. The signs of decay include a 10-foot stretch along the platform edge where the concrete has fallen in chunks"
21st St., Long Island City, Queens, G line: "The only good news is that a relatively small amount of people must use this squalid pit as they go to and from work in this industrial area."
Mosholu Parkway, Norwood section, the Bronx, No. 4 line: "Several [beams along the platform edges] are loose and uneven, setting the stage for someone to fall onto the tracks.
Bay Parkway, Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, N line: "Pigeon droppings are everywhere....'I frequently catch the N train in Brooklyn and this is the worst for pigeon poop,' said Brooklyn artist James Williams."
Smith/Ninth Sts., Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, F and G lines: "The protective overhangs have large holes, paint peels everywhere and concrete crumbles."
What do you think are the worst subway stations? And the worst among very frequented line? The News also points to four stations that are glittering: 81st Street/Central Park West in Manhattan (the American Museum fo Natural History donated half a million to the station's $11 million makeover), Stillwell Ave. terminal in Coney Island, Yankee Stadium station in the Bronx, and 74th St./Roosevelt Ave. station in Queens. So what do you think the best stations are? And you can find out more about all the subway stations at NYC Subway.
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Of the highly trafficked stations I go to...
Smelly:
1 at 59th Street Columbus Circle
51st Street at Lexington
Construction zone:
N/R/Q/W at Times Square - water drips all the time!
And then in the bonus category of "Too big for its britches," meaning that the crowds overwhelm the station:
Shuttle at Times Square
1/2/3 at West 72nd Street
G at Lorimer
In the 63rd St/Lexington Ave station part of the platform is constantly wet and even though it wasn't raining this morning it sounded like it once you got to the platform.
Canal Street on the 6 is disgusting! There's this smell that is so overpowering on the downtown side near token booth. Not to mention the rusted water pooling and dripping. So gross.
The 62nd St/New Utrecht D/N station in Brooklyn looks like it hasn't been painted in 20 years (the green paint on the elevated D line is so bad most of the girders are 75% red, the previous color), and the building at the entrance smells strongly of mildew even when it hasn't rained for a week. It's sad, too, because you can tell that it has some really nice Art Deco features under all that peeling beige paint.
Last I checked, the Fulton St. station is also in Manhattan...
Huh, the Smith / 9th Street F/G stop is actually one of my favorite little places in the city. Look one direction, and you see the Statue of Libery and the cliffs of New Jersey. In the other direction, the Gowanus, Downtown Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Don't vote yes on the Transportation Bond Act. MTA has been wasting taxpayer money for years (heLLO, let's think back to their new headquarters which went hugely overbudget due to corruption). MTA has essentially cooked their books to justify a fare hike and is now clamouring for more money so they can once again lose money to their employees who are constantly being arrested for stealing millions. What this agency needs is a huge shakeup, not a cash infusion. Did you look at the news today? MTA has been using highly skilled workers to pick up garbage for $26 an hour! Put employees to better use at less cost! Please don't routinely recommend Gothamist readers to vote for something until you research the facts.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/77988p-71909c.html
KeithS: While Smith/9th has great views, that's not part of the station, which is shitty. I bet it's due for a revamp, since it's beginning to feel the real estate squeeze from both the Carroll Gardens and the Park Slope sides.
Fulton St on the G train has the nastiest underpass ever.
Most depressing station: Jay Street/Borough Hall. The guys who work at the newsstand are always smoking, it has a funky smell at all times, I've seen full fast-food meals just abandoned on the seats. The place is lawless.
The problem with the subway is that despite it's HUGE surplus the MTA seems to think that "repair" means "paint."
Just look at those peeling support beams: an archological schmorgasborde of color, making each beam a full sixteenth of an inch fatter than it was in the raw.
Connection problems: paint. Signal problems: paint. Leaks: certainly the answer is more paint.
Nothing like a "Wet Paint" sign to make folks think you're keeping things spiffy. Nevermind the acre of piss they had to tip toe through in order to get down the dank steps at Canal Street: just paint those pillars!
You see the same problem with apartment buildings where every super seems to think that paint is the ultimate solution to every problem.
I once told a super that I had a leak and he came by and painted my pipes! We had a nickname for him: Renoir.
He painted so fast that he captured the flies on the walls. I think he even painted a light beam once. But I may be exaggerating.
The N/R/W/Q- B/D/F/V station at 34th Street is one of the most urine-ific stations. The smell permeates my nostrils for hours after setting foot there.
Newkirk Avenue on the Q/B smells like ass and it's impossible to walk up the stairs without getting dripped on.
BEST STATION
The Framklin st 1 stop in Tribeca is the nicest i've even been to. Everything is snazzy and new, including a really neat floor tiling.
It's funny that the Jay St/Borough Hall A/C/F is described as lawless, considering there's a police station in it.
I actually like that station - it feels how the subway should feel to me.
there were once plans to fix up at least part of smith/9th. not sure what became of them. i think most of the current work is being done in contracts that were approved long ago. and from what i am aware, there is a lot of complete rehab of stations in the bronx.
I was going to say East Broadway on F, but the columns recently got a fresh coat of paint, so that took care of all the crumbling tiles, the urine smell, litter and standing water on the tracks.
Same thing with 23rd Street on the 6. Dripping pipes, urine smells, but also very steep stairs on the north-eastern entrance.
And to think, at one time it looked like this:
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?17493
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?32448
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?32449
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?32446
...sigh.
If it were a "vicious circle", they would alternate getting worse with getting better. Cuz, you know, a circle goes around and comes back to where it started. Putz.