Over the Hump

In recent weeks, Halfzware has shared two documentary films with me, both of them addressing the rather nebulous subject of subterranean culture (against the more tangible backdrop of trains and railroads) in New York City. These are the 1983 film Style Wars, by Henry Chalfant and Tony Silver (click here for the official site, which requires flash), and Mark Singer's Dark Days (2000).

That I would have seen these two films -- both of which I had heard much about but never seen until now -- at this particular point in time seems appropriate, given the current fiscal (and other) problems at Amtrak and NYC Transit.

While it is true that recent headlines have suggested a general decline in the quality of service on both railroads, it is also true that things are still much better than they were fifteen years ago. Equipment is newer and (excepting Amtrak's disastrous Acela trains) subject to fewer breakdowns than in the 1980s, when I can remember being stuck on an Amtrak train in New Jersey for several hours without explanation. Its cars were old, smelly, and in terrible repair.

The New York City Subway system has likewise improved since the 1980s. Watching the first 30 minutes of Style Wars last night brought back faint memories of the subways of my early childhood: filthy, dimly lit, and in some cases, barely functional. Thankfully, those days seem safely behind us. But alarmingly, NYC Transit is now being denied its full budget by an increasingly cash-strapped MTA, which makes up for its own state-inflicted budget woes by passing the problem on to the city, keeping Metro North and the Long Island Railroad running smoothly but threatening to return NYCT back to its own dark days.

One might easily become nostalgic for the grittier aesthetic of 1980s subway trains, but the fact is this: token booth clerks are being replaced by machines, trains and stations are being cleaned less frequently, and NYC transit lacks the budget to make necessary improvements to its infrastructure. Without a change in this pattern, a return to a transit dark age becomes increasingly likely. Amtrak, for its part, has never run smoothly or even come close to turning a profit, and its days finally seem to be numbered.

On a lighter note, from now on, I will try to update twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays (coming as they do after the weekend and the Wednesday hump, respectively).