As a very infrequent visitor (typically during the summer), I'd prefer a bit more ventilation.

When there are homeless people taking a dump on the platform and hundreds of positively disgusting surfaces.. Creepy doesn't even begin to describe it. Dirty, disgusting and dungeon like isn't a virtue. Combine that with the horrid lack of accessibility and you have the NYC subway. Even PATH looks like luxury compared to riding the metro. Funny how NYC claims to be 'progressive' yet someone in a wheelchair or a mom with small children can't safely use much of the system. Seoul has double the population, yet their system is twice as clean.

Talk about sour grapes... It's anecdote against anecdote, but have you ever actually seen someone taking a crap on a platform? I've ridden the subway several thousands of times in the past decade and I've never seen someone take a dump on the platform or train. That's one of those stories that everyone talks about, imagines, and hits the front page of Gothamist, but is in all likelihood farther and fewer between in reality, than in the stories we tell.

A "progressive" city can still have legacy parts, and those legacy parts are supplemented by custom features. All regular NYC Buses are handicap accessible. There are 24/7, door-to-door, paratransit services for handicapped people that cost the same as a subway fare [0]. Sure, the NYC Subway isn't Seoul or Singapore's, but it runs 24/7 (Seoul's only runs 5:30-Midnight) and the stations on average are probably ~20-30 years older than the oldest parts of the Seoul Metro (early 70s). The unofficial handicapped accessible subway map is depressingly sparse [1], but it seems on par with London's [2] and better than Paris' [3]. (Neither of which are 24 hour systems, BTW.)

I'll admit that the surfaces are gross and the subway collects the most unfortunate, down on their luck members of society, but your post reads as a total condemnation of the best mass transit system in the US. It's dirty and depressing at times, but it's also one of the great equalizers in New York City life.

[0] http://web.mta.info/nyct/paratran/guide.htm#what_is

[1] https://subwayrecord.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/ada-subway-...

[2] http://content.tfl.gov.uk/step-free-tube-guide-map.pdf

[3] http://parisbytrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/plan_pbs....

I did see someone pooping once. The train car cleared out pretty fast. I also got threatened twice during rush hour. When I first moved to NY, I tried talking to the good people at the counter ... never made that mistake again. After a bit, I just started taking cabs. I did encounter traffic jams periodically but felt a better experience overall. Btw .. I also have respect for NYC cabbies. They are the opposite of Bay area cabbies. I try to not use Uber when I am in NY. Anyways ... the NYC subway sucks when compared to international standards. If you travel a bit internationally, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Travelling internationally has reinforced my positive opinions of NYC's mass transit. Sure, it's occasionally gross, and certainly less polished than London or Paris, but it's 24 hour presence is truly special. It's redundancy and express/local service patterns are also unique. You seem to be able to afford cabs -- that isn't the case for a good portion of NYC's population. That I can go from Williamsburg to Inwood in ~1 hr. 15 min. for $2.50 at 2am Sunday morning....that's something special that other cities can't compare on.

I'm not excusing the cost overruns and budget mishaps the MTA is prone to, but these stereotypes of a cesspool-like NYC mass transit are dated and a disservice to their actual typical operating conditions.

Several cities in Europe that don't run 24h/day every day at least run overnight on Friday and Saturday nights. (London doesn't, since the unions are currently blocking it.)

But your point would work if you'd chosen 2am on Monday.

Copenhagen's metro runs 24 hours a day, every day, but it's small and new (and entirely automated).

I've actually seen it... But that was over 20 years ago. (I really can't get the image out of my head, even after all this time...)

FWIW... I love the NYC Subway, and wish there was more money/attention paid to it. (Especially seeing the metros of other cites in the world.