Queens Trains Need A Clean-Up

Astoria’s N-line boasted the cleanest subway cars in the city, but Jamaica’s E-trains the second-dirtiest in the annual cleanliness report of the Straphangers Campaign released last week.
The N rose from 13th last year to claim the top spot with 86 percent of its cars found to be tidy. Other Queens trains in the top 10 included the A (tied for second), G (tied for fourth), W (sixth) and J/Z (eighth).
The A-line, which services the Rockaways, was tied with the D-line as most improved, shooting up 27 points from last year (54 to 81 percent).
On the other hand, a number of Queens lines were less than dazzling. Only 35 percent of E trains were listed in good condition, with the M, V, 7, F and R lines also finishing in the bottom half of all city trains.
The V-line took the biggest tumble of these, heading from sixth place in 2003-04 to 19th this year and dropping from 71 percent clean to only 42 percent.
The Straphangers Campaign, a non-profit advocacy group, conducts a test of the subway system’s cleanliness every year, running 100 spot checks of the seats and floors of the city’s 22 lines.
Overall the number of “dirty” cars increased over last year, as the average score of 66 percent clean fell to 61 percent.
“The decline in cleanliness is a bad sign that the recent cuts in car cleaning staff have taken their toll,” said Neysa Pranger, Straphangers Campaign coordinator who directed the survey.
editrich@queenscourier.com