James Wagner's Disastrous Subway Adventure
Can someone explain to us why it took so long to rescue hundreds of people sealed in subway cars on account of a mischief somewhat-less-than-extraordinary, and one so easily predictable by anyone charged with emergency planning in a system so extraordinarily vulnerable to such mischief?
So the next question is obvious. Are we all expected to have any confidence in the city's vaunted security apparatus when it is measured against the threat of real terrorists? These days we can barely walk around our own streets without being assaulted by "security" devices and routines obstensively laid out for our protection and we can no longer readily exercise our freedoms of assembly and speech, yet we are clearly not even prepared for even the ordinary, pre-war-on-terror kind of threat. Real saboteurs won't give us two hours, or even 70 minutes.
Imagine my mindset this morning when a normal 30/35 minute door-to-door commute turned into a 90+ minute daytime nightmare. I guess I should count my blessings. The "L" train I was riding on was stuck between the Bedford Avenue and 1st Avenue stations for only forty minutes. After we got power from another train and finally made it to 1st Avenue, a passenger became sick and I just walked the rest of the way to work. I still don't understand how a true emergency can be handled by NYC personnel when such simple, non life-threatening situations can render an entire line useless for tens of thousands of people.
And to think I haven't thought about leaving NYC in a while. Shit like this gives me second thoughts.
Wagner has several pics of the incident. Just reminds me that I need to get another digicam soon.
Posted by ronn at March 2, 2004 09:18 PM