Why is the New York underground so dirty and old?

[Deathknightish]

I visited New York a couple of years back. Absolutely loved it, but something got on my mind; it's underground system.

Compared to other underground systems of the world, it was extremely worn, dirty and old. It felt like I was time travelling back to the 80s or something each time I entered a station. There were exceptions, especially close to Times Square and the Central station, but most of the stations felt like they belonged in some dystopian, rusty steampunk city.

Here are some comparisons:

- Stockholm, Sweden

- Jolly ol' London

- Moscow, Russia

- Paris

- New York

Why is this? I know that it's the oldest underground system in the world, but why hasn't it been renovated and modernised?

[Independent voter]

Unless I'm missing something, the NY subway looks pretty much like the other subways you've shown. What am I supposed to be looking at?

NY subways used to be horrible a couple of decades ago, before the politicians implemented "broken window" policies. That's where the cops make sure there is no environment where criminals can thrive. If a window is broken, fix it.

[Machismo]

Some of it has been, such things are not done all at once.

[Deathknightish]

Unless I'm missing something, the NY subway looks pretty much like the other subways you've shown. What am I supposed to be looking at?

This is a station in central Manhattan called Chambers street. It's worn, dirty and looks like something out of a horror movie, while the other stations are renovated and modern. I'd love to say that it's an exception, but from what I saw in Manhattan, it wasn't. Modern, renovated stations were the exceptions, instead.

[ParanoiD84]

Alot of them look like shit in sweden too, depends where you are.

[Serpha]

Clearly you haven't been to underground in Paris, it's falling apart.

[Deathknightish]

Alot of them look like shit in sweden too, depends where you are.

I don't agree. There is not a single one in central Stockholm as worn and torn as 90% of the stations in Manhattan were, and outside central Stockholm, they are all above ground and look just like any other train station SJ handles imo.

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Clearly you haven't been to underground in Paris, it's falling apart.

I'll admit I was only there when I was a child, but I remember it being fresh then. I just looked up some pictures and it looked as I remember them. Has it deteriorated that much=

[slime]

Geeeez...
Those NYC ones look like scenes from Jacob's Ladder.

[Independent voter]

This is a station in central Manhattan called Chambers street. It's worn, dirty and looks like something out of a horror movie, while the other stations are renovated and modern. I'd love to say that it's an exception, but from what I saw in Manhattan, it wasn't. Modern, renovated stations were the exceptions, instead.

That looks run down.

New York is a rich city. It makes you wonder why they don't keep things in shape. I don't know why they don't, must be a city planning thing.

[Tech614]

New York has 2 main issues other places don't have in regards to this.

1) The subway system is 24/7. Most others close down during the night, which makes it easier to do work on.

2) New York labor unions. Ain't nobody renovating shit unless they get paid lots of money. They can't hire cheap contractors from out of state like many other systems can.

[Independent voter]

New York City has a GDP of $1.7 trillion. Less GDP than Italy but more than Canada. So they have the money.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_by_GDP
https://www.investopedia.com/insight...top-economies/

[Attackrabbit]

I know that it's the oldest underground system in the world

That's news to quite a few places that had underground systems before New York

[Low Hanging Fruit]

If it isn't broke why fix it.

[PACOX]

This is a station in central Manhattan called Chambers street. It's worn, dirty and looks like something out of a horror movie, while the other stations are renovated and modern. I'd love to say that it's an exception, but from what I saw in Manhattan, it wasn't. Modern, renovated stations were the exceptions, instead.

The only reason you'd associate that platform with a horror movie is because so many horror movies use old subways as back drops.

Theres nothing wrong with it that a paint job can't fix. But why bother?

[arandomuser]

because in the west we have to justify spending to our constituents and sometimes you have different representatives with different ideas on spending. 2 It is more costly than in say china or russia because we have safety standards and environmental regulations that add to the cost. Heres russias subway station

Sure they have nice infrastructure but here in the west we have the intangibles like the right to vote and free expression, things you wont find in russia. Maybe when theyve been fully degraded by the end of the current admin we will have fast track infrastucture spending like putin and his 1 party state

[Isilarya]

If we are being honest I think its because the scale of renovation would require shutting the station down for an extended period of time and possibly the entire line and you just cant do that in NYC, most people dont have cars and the buses arent able to handle the load the subways do. The gist is you take subways vertically and buses horizontally.

People lose their bloody minds when a station has an unforseen closure for 4 hours.

[Shadowsgrace]

Money... there is no Profit in making the underground look nice. It's merely a creature comfort that NYC doesn't want to Pay for, and neither do the Commuters. They'll deal with Meh conditions to keep the price of a Fair as low as possible.

[breadisfunny]

maybe because it was built in the early 1900's just a guess.
also lol no. it is definitely NOT the oldest underground system.
have you ever opened a history book? like ANY history book?

[Alvito]

Ride a train from start to finish is it like watching a time lapsed picture of a flower blooming and dying. One of my first trips to NYC we took the trains every where the people watching and seeing how much the stops changed as you went along was interesting at the very least. Go to nice parts of the city and you will have nice stops go to more run down areas and the stops echo that.

[Feronar]

Heck, even Pyongyang keeps its subway stations clean and tidy (Albeit a bit dated).


If even North Korea can keep its subway stations in a decent state*, why can't NYC?

*Note: This is not, and should not be interpreted as, an endorsement of North Korea, its regime, or Kim Jong Un.