The True Cost of Long Needed Renovation

At my local station in Clinton Hill, I was met with a surprise the other day on my morning commute to school. My station, which is known to be one of the oldest and most neglected subway stations in Brooklyn, had gone under a brand new renovation! What some may see as a great improvement for the local community’s subway station, especially for a station as quaint and ignored as the G, others saw as a major step forward for law enforcement and the MTA. What used to be two turning doors and one emergency exit door (as pictured above), was now two brand new turnstiles and security cameras! Many people talk about the controversy surrounding the MTA and the infamous issue of skipping or hopping over the turnstiles in an effort to avoid the fare, however, in Clinton Hill, this was the least of our qualms when it came to the MTA. With trains that run every 15 minutes, shortened/smaller subway cars, and often broken and abandoned ticket machines, hopping through the emergency door when it was open rather than paying the fare was an easy way to feel like you had at least benefited somehow from this disastrous public transportation service. Although I am not necessarily condoning or admitting to having broken the rules and avoiding the fare myself, I do find it convenient that as soon as the lock on our emergency exit door breaks, only then does a station untouched for 30 years receive its long needed update.

What was done at my station was not done in an effort to beautify or even update the station to benefit of commuters. Rather, measures were taken to ensure, above anything else, that a company like the MTA, that continues to increase the charges of a single commute, benefitting of the exploitation of citizens basic need of transportation, would not miss out on gaining any more money. This more than anything goes to show that our government, local leaders or whoever it be that controls our city, care more about protecting their money than making a station great for its citizens.  Although fare evasion will still continue to happen, it is now a higher stakes crime with a bigger risk of getting caught by the security cameras that have been introduced. Although much of this truly is a good step forward for the MTA, and cheating the city out if it’s money isn’t necessarily something we as commuters should be proud of, there will always be a part of me that is frustrated by the MTA/local administration’s failure to care about our transportation needs until it is hurting their own pockets.