The Daily News has quite the juicy "exclusive" today with a story about MTA workers using an in-service subway train to transport piles of "rat-filled" garbage. You can't see any rats in this photo of trash on the 6 train, but the News headline says they're in there, and do you really want to root around and find out? Also unsettling is the color of the bags, which evokes those medical waste biohazard bags. An anonymous MTA worker tells the tabloid:
I've seen stacks of bags, leaking, blocking the doorway, blocking seats. It may be 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. in the morning, but this is New York City. There's always people on the train. They will look at it like, 'What are they doing?' You see people picking up their feet because it will leak down the train.
Real New Yorkers know that's just the city's irrigation system at work. In a statement, the MTA says it's conducting an investigation, adding, "It is not our practice to use in-service trains for trash removal." Indeed, anyone who's waited "forever" on a subway platform late at night knows the despair of hearing a train "finally" approach, only to discover it's the dreaded "trash train," which grinds to a halt so that workers can load it up with garbage.
The News's source claims trash collected from the subway tracks is piled in tunnels just outside the stations, but when there isn't room for it there, crews load it onto regular trains for a short haul. John Samuelsen, president of Transport Workers Union Local 100, adds a little color: "When track workers walk past those bags, we give them a wide berth, knowing if you walk close to a bag, a rat could jump out right on top of you." If that ever happens to you—and it's only a matter of time—be sure to record video and send it to NYC the Blog, your one-stop internet hub for all your horrifying rat video needs.
