In Queens, Politicians Call on MTA to Address Filth and Trash on Trains

State Sen. Leroy Comrie, (D-Queens) chairman of the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions, called on the MTA Tuesday  to increase the number of subway car cleaners to address filth and trash on trains. Comrie joined Transport Workers Union Local 100 Administrative Vice  President Nelson Rivera, Vice President Eric Loegel and transit workers at the 179th St. F-train station in Jamaica, Queens, to criticize the MTA for scaling back on subway car cleaning. Former Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, chair of The Friends of The QNS, a non-profit advocating for a revival of the Lower Montauk Branch of the LIRR to a transit line, also came to lend support.

The MTA has cut nearly 80 Car Cleaner positions over the last few years and many stations at the end of the line – like 179th St. – do not have any Car Cleaners on the overnight shift at all. “I’m here to support TWU Local 100 and their effort to make sure every train is clean for the riders who come here to take one of the longest rides in the city,” Comrie said. “We have a ridership that is second to none in terms of volume in this area and it’s a ridiculous effort by the MTA to reduce cleanliness in the system and to remove cleaners from the system. The MTA needs to look at management and get rid of all those people making $250,000 and up instead of getting rid of cleaners. We need more cleaners.”

Rivera and other Local 100 officers handed riders flyers promoting the union’s Trash Train contest. In the contest, riders can submit photographs of the dirtiest, filthiest subway cars they encounter - and have a chance to win $500. Voters decide which subway car scene depicted is the worst of the bunch. The contest is raising awareness of the Car Cleaner job cuts. Nearly 200 photos have been submitted, and the contest has been covered by every major television station and newspaper in the city. “The MTA has to clean up its act and make subway car cleaning a much greater priority,” Rivera said. “Riders should not have to ride in disgusting conditions. Train crews should not have to contend with cars fouled with urine, feces and other sickening situations that exist because of these job cuts.”