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Friday, May 13, 2016

No News Is Not Good News

Two months ago, there were a spate of stories about how the new subway station in New York City at the end of the 7 line was leaking with mold and mildew spreading through the new facility.  The station had been built at a cost of well more than a billion dollars and the leaks had been known prior to the opening.  Nevertheless, the MTA still opened the station and then let the water damage the structure.  It was a perfect storm of incompetent operations by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Since two months have passed, I checked today to look for news stories about the repairs to the station which were promised.  There is no news on the subject according to various searches I did.  This is one case where no news is very bad news.  It is inconceivable that the MTA would have let a contract for corrective work without issuing a press release lauding their great corrective action.  It is likewise inconceivable that the MTA would have the original contractor do corrective work without telling the public.  The only conclusion one can rationally make is that the MTA has done nothing.  The leaks continue, but the MTA is "studying" the problem.  The agency probably won't act until there is danger of some sort of structural damage that would force the closure of the new station.

It's just too bad that the New York politicians spend so much of their time on corrupt activities rather than on actually accomplishing something (anything?) good for the residents of that city.

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