Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel slammed New York City’s dysfunctional subway system in a New York Times op-ed piece on Monday, spurring conflict among some of the nation’s most liberal politicians.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio have been under fire lately for constant delays and train breakdowns within America’s largest public transportation complex.
In the op-ed, titled “In Chicago, the Trains Actually Run on Time,” Emanuel boasted Chicago’s success after emphasizing New York City’s subway troubles.
“A recent survey found that 85 percent of passengers are satisfied with service on our transit system, the nation’s second most used,” he wrote.
“Modernizing our existing mass transit is one reason Chicago’s economy has expanded faster than the economies of New York and Washington, and faster than the national average for the last five years,” the mayor and former Obama administration chief of staff added.
Though Emanuel’s system tends to run more smoothly, New York City’s subway is over three times larger and has a daily ridership of 11 million, compared to Chicago’s 1.6 million.
While the blame game was alive and well in New York City with both the mayor and governor avoiding responsibility, Gov. Cuomo declared a state of emergency June 29 for the subway system and promised $1 billion toward renovation.
Some of the Big Apple’s recent subway dilemmas include a train derailment that injured 34 people and systemic tardiness, with the trains on the popular line 2 being late over half of the time, according to the New York Post.
Even with a swift train system, Chicago is still plagued with some serious problems, including surging homicide rates, gang violence and high poverty levels.
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