Riding Trains

In November in New York City, I spent a lot of time riding trains. Why?

Well, to see what it is like for people with accessibility issues.

It is atrocious to say the least.

There are elevators at some stops but they may or may not be working at any given point in time. Why is that?

As a city of millions, why are there not enough full time elevator repair people working for the MTA to make sure that the elevators are always working?

It disturbed me to say the least. One day, I finally had it and stopped people who were walking by and demanded they contact their politicians to get the elevators on all stops working.

Another thing is there needs to be an investment in the infrastructure to put an elevator at every stop. The communities that are most deprived of this are brown communities.

They are the ones who have little to no elevator services whatsoever. Clearly a discriminatory practice on the part of city and transportation planners. It is exhausting to take the train with a baby. And bus services can be so limited that it makes getting around the city a nightmare at times.

Another very disturbing piece was the agents who would use the trains to inspect immigration status. The first day I was there I witnessed four inspections of trains I was on in an hour alone! Four. How is that justifiable spending of tax payer dollars??

It isn’t. It is a disgusting waste. And a horrific abuse of power.

NYC, you have some explaining to do.