By Philip Newman
The No. 7 train came in as the cleanest and the R line as the dirtiest in the Straphangers Campaign’s 10th annual Schmutz Survey of the subway system.
Some 84 percent of the No. 7 line’s cars were clean followed by the D, with 80 percent, and the J at 78 percent.
After the last-place R, which had only 25 percent of its cars clean,came the N at 29 percent and the Q at 39 percent.
The Straphangers, a transit advocacy agency, explained that the No. 7’s resplendence might have been in part because it is one of the subway lines run by general managers.
Gene Russianoff, the attorney for Straphangers, said it was good news that overall the subways were cleaner — 57 percent compared to the previous survey’s 50 percent.
“But we are very concerned that the New York City Transit Authority plans cuts in the numbers of subway car cleaners,” he said.
The MTA’s 2010 budget calls for reductions in cleaning personnel, with the numbers of such workers falling from 1,181 to 1,138 and supervisors declining from 155 to 146 supervisors.
“We feel that fewer elbows will result in less elbow grease,” Russianoff said.
The survey, conducted from September to December 2008, found that:
• the most deteriorated line was the N, which fell from 63 percent clean to 29 percent
• the greatest improvement was on the J, which rose from 33 percent clean to 78 percent
• the Nos. 4 and 5 and D, E, J, M and V trains were cleaner than in the previous survey
• dirtier than in the previous survey were the No. 1,G,L,N and R
Under the Straphangers’ inspection rules, subway cars were not clean if they were moderately dirty with dingy floors; had one or two sticky dry spots or wereheavily dirty; had any opened or spilled food; had hazards such as rolling cans, bottles or malodorous conditions; had sticky wet spots; or had seats unusable due to unclean conditions.
The rankings from best to worst were: No. 7, D, J, B, V, No. 5, No. 1, M, No. 4, F, L, A, No. 3, W, G, E, No. 2, No. 6, C, Q, N and R.
Reach contributing writer Philip Newman by e-mail at timesledgernews@cnglocal.com or phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 136.
