Stupid things that make no sense

Years ago (IIRC, in the early 1990s) I was walking to the subway as part of the usual morning commute. Out of nowhere, the city was battered with rain, which lasted about 5-10 minutes. The sudden onslaught was too much for NYC's poor nineteenth century water pumps, and as a result, the subway systems were conked out of commission for the rest of the morning. There was flooding here, there were delays there, there were long lines for buses and frustrated commuters trying in vain to get cabs. I seem to remember getting to work some time after 10 AM.

The local press all noted the rather ancient water pumping systems in New York. It was all rather unnerving to think that 5-10 minutes of rain was all it took to tangle up NYC's mass transit system. Surely, it was time for an upgrade...yes?

Well, there have been one of two other instances where heavy rain flooded subways and made the morning commute something akin to an obstacle course. And still, there have been no solid steps taken to bring in new water pumps or improve the infrastructure. I mean, rain happens--particularly in the summer, when there are things called thunderstorms.

Yesterday, it happened again. The heavy thudding of rain, followed by flooded subway tunnels and irate commuters and long waiting times, and horrible, horrible heat.

Really. Enough already. I'm tired of this talk about congestion pricing. Since I don't have a car and I use mass transit to get everywhere, it doesn't affect me. It doesn't affect a lot of New Yorkers. The lifeblood of this city is the mass transit system. Can Mayor Bloomberg bring the transit infrastructure into the 21st century? Please?

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