amNY Watch: The MTA Wants You to Keep Smoking
June 9, 2008 – 11:43 amThis morning, I saw an MTA employee stationed out on the corner of 14th and 1st with a giant garbage can and a stack of copies of today’s amNewYork. He had just put down a huge batch of papers on the sidewalk and picked up a fresh stack when I came up from behind him.
Should I have taken a picture of him? Probably not. He’s kind of an intimidating guy. But by the time I took this picture, it became clear what he was doing: he was taking the New York City Department of Health’s free-standing insert out of every single copy of amNewYork, throwing the insert in the trash, then putting those copies back in the amNewYork racks.
It is so on! The MTA is declaring war on amNewYork! Litter our stations, and we’ll sabotage your advertisers’ campaigns!
Okay, the guy is probably doing it because those inserts will just end up getting dumped all over the subway station. And he probably has to clean that station when unsuspecting readers open up their copies and the inserts fall out all over the floor. But the DOH paid good money for those inserts, and you’ll never get to see them, because a subway employee is working outside his jurisdiction to throw them right in the trash!
Come to think of it, this is a mind-blowing example of governmental waste:
1. The Department of Health, a government agency, funds inserts for an anti-smoking ad campaign using taxpayer dollars.
2. The Metropolitan Transit Authority, a corporation funded with government money, discards the inserts by sending taxpayer-subsidized employees to street level.
3. The Department of Sanitation, a government agency, transports the inserts to landfills in taxpayer-funded trucks where they will not be recycled.
It’s a vicious cycle. The inserts go unseen, people keep smoking, and the DOH has to run yet another ad campaign. Maybe they’ll bring back the guy who talks through the hole in his throat. It was hard to miss that guy, because he was everywhere.
So, you can blame the MTA for making you late. You can blame the MTA for subjecting you to 150-degree platforms in the dead of summer. You can blame the MTA for the extra five dollars you’re paying to take the subway every week. And the next time someone blows cigarette smoke in your face when you’re walking down the sidewalk, I guess you could blame the MTA for that, too.
11 Responses
Just ask Ben how I feel about The MTA.
By Todd on Jun 9, 2008
Actually, the MTA doesn’t want their stations littered with anti-smoking inserts. See 14th St. on the IND this morning.
By Ben K. on Jun 9, 2008
This morning I wrote a letter to the NYC department of health complaining about the inserts… I live in Astoria, I work in midtown and on my way to work at 8:00 this morning I saw HUNDREDS of postcards littering the sidewalks, the stations and the trains. I imagine it only got worse during the day.
There are ways to alert people to the dangers of smoking without littering. And packs of cigarettes are over $8 now… I’d imagine that smokers were the first to know.
By Taylor on Jun 9, 2008
Big tobacco conspiracy?
By PissedAndPetty.com on Jun 9, 2008
All inserts are DESIGNED to fall out of periodicals. I think that should be illegal. So much trash everywhere created by these things.
By Ed on Jun 9, 2008
actually those inserts land on the stairs and people slip and fall. could be a nice settlement lawsuit from both the MTA and amNewYork !
By jody on Jun 9, 2008
Is there no end to the horrors of the MTA??? BTW, I love that you took a picture of a random MTA worker. The look on his face is great!
By Subway Gal on Jun 10, 2008
Louis CK has clearly fallen on hard times. He’s been working out, though.
By lozo on Jun 10, 2008
“A few grand goes a long way”? It’s not a coincidence that a pack costs $8 — smokers would have the 3K already if the city wasn’t extorting it from us. Instead, they’re spending it to produce 4-color glossy pieces of litter. Good system.
By Liz G on Jun 10, 2008
I was annoyed enough when these appeared last week- the day of or before the price hike. But then when they appeared again YESTERDAY, I was totally surprised and even more annoyed!!!
Quite honestly, I can’t imagine how many people are going to quit smoking because of that ridiculous insert. Not to mention, as one of your comments stated- if they smoke, they KNOW the price has gone up.
Why kill trees/waste money/waste paper and create so much litter! It’s senseless and irresponsible.
By Sheryl on Jun 10, 2008
I don’t think any of these ad campaigns work. I know smoking is bad for me–the ads just feel like patronizing finger-wagging.
By Anastasia F on Jun 17, 2008