A couple of weeks ago, the MTA, everyone's favorite provider of mass transit that feels more like mass standing there being pissed, announced that it plans to suspend service at the Smith & 9th Street subway station in Brooklyn for in 2010 for over a year. Yes, you heard that right. Users of the Smith/9th station may be without service for a year.
For those of you unfamiliar with the neighborhood, Smith/9th serves the communities of Red Hook and Gowanus in south Brooklyn. The neighborhoods are known more for light industry than for residential uses, but there is a substantial residential population, including the residents of an enormous public housing complex. There's another station about 8 blocks away, and I suspect (hope) that the MTA will run a bus between the stations, but hey, this is the MTA we're talking about.
So, what do you think? Does the MTA hate poor people? Minorities? Brooklyn? Is there really no other way to do the repair and maintenance work than to close this station for a year? Are they dumb? Lazy? I can think of a lot of things that could be wrong with the MTA? I suspect the answer is a combination of (1) this is the easiest way for them to do it, and (2) they don't care that much about who is inconvenienced.
MTA, what the hell is wrong with you?
