Grafitti is making a comeback on the New York Subway.
Some riders are calling a return to the "bad old days" of New York City—the 1970s and '80s. After decades of efforts to eradicate graffiti from the New York subway cars, an increasing number of subway cars are getting tagged again.
"The troubling trend saw New York City Transit’s annual graffiti cleaning costs surge to $610,956 in 2018 — an increase of 364% from the $131,539 spent just two years earlier," according to an article by Jose Martinez.
"Some 765 subway cars and 443 trains were affected last year by 'major graffiti hits,'" according to data from the MTA shared with Martinez.
According to Martinez, much of the graffiti is the work of international artists looking to gain social media fame.
Jose Martinez sat down with Metro Focus to discuss the findings of the article, in a video that's available online.
Read the full story: SUBWAY GRAFFITI COSTS AND DELAYS UP AS NEW GENERATION MAKES ITS MARK
Fancy New Subway Cars Join the New York Subway System
New York has been planning on adding these new subway cars for years, finally achieving their goal in March 2023. More than a thousand of the new R211 trains will be running in New York within two years if all goes according to plan.
New York MTA to Spend $4 Billion for New Subway Cars
Over 1,600 new subway cars may be ordered, a minimum of 200 with open gangways, by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The first 500 will be purchased from the Japanese company, Kawasaki, to be assembled in Yonkers and Lincoln, Nebraska.
New York Subway Surpasses 1 Billion Riders for the First Time Since 2019
There’s still a long way to go for the nation’s busiest transit system to get back to pre-pandemic ridership levels, but New Yorkers crossed at least one symbolic threshold in 2022.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Los Angeles just elected an urban planner as its mayor
Transportation analysts are optimistic that Raman will be more aggressive in addressing transit issues than Bass.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority