WEEKEND, AUGUST 17 - 19, 2007 // ISSUE 162 // VOLUME 5 DO YOU RUN INTO FOUL-SMELLING SUBWAY STATIONS EVERY DAY? Using yourA YES vote, at& B t phoneNO (2669)A or log onto B, to am , text your www.am NY ny.com ‘Superbad’ is real good A 3-star film PAGE 14 Trailer, more GRAND reviews on SOCCER’S DAY IN CITY HAS COME PAGE 12 Tracker transit blog and talk back on FUNK Find soccer RAILROAD bars and Nosing around for answers about more on why some subway stations stink PAGE 3 (Jefferson Siegel) (Getty Images) Let’s meet at starbucks. l etsm eetatstarbucks.com ©2007StarbucksCoffeeCompany.Allrightsreserved.POPS-710 MCNY IS A NOT-FOR-PROFIT COLLEGE FULLY ACCREDITED BY THE MIDDLE STATES ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS AND THE NEW YORK STATE BOARD OF REGENTS. MCNY ADMITS STUDENTS OF ANY RACE, COLOR AND NATIONAL OR ETHNIC ORIGIN. INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS WELCOME. ©2007 METROPOLITAN COLLEGE OF NEW YORK. Editor: Ryan Chatelain ([email protected]) /local 03 LOCAL 350: CLEANING EMPLOYEES NYC TRANSIT WILL ADD TO ITS WORKFORCE BY THIS FALL WEEKEND, AUGUST 17-19, 2007 Big stink over subway odors Foul smells They smell trouble a constant Riders told amNY: Check out Gawker.com’s sub- ■ The Canal Street Q stop is espe- way smell map, which indexes cially rank this time of year, riders’ stankiest experiences: battle for MTA smelling of rotting garbage and ■ The No. 6 line at 51st Street and E, vomit. V at 53rd Street: “Nothing beats By Marlene Naanes ■ The smell at the 125th Street A and this stench ... ” [email protected] D station is indescribable. ■ “Three-day-old wet pooch ... Human- ■ Borough Hall is rank with mildew. fungal smell ... Rotting flesh ... ” It smelled like death warmed over to some straphangers. To oth- ers, it was rancid excrement. spond to specific stenches faster. That stank crept from an eleva- Still, why the big stink at Herald You think city tor at Herald Square. Square and at stations throughout The summer heat act- the system? Stations get funky for reeks now? ed as an odor adhe- several reasons, said Bill Hender- sive, keeping the foul- son, who hears rider complaints as ness lingering well af- NY head of the MTA’s Permanent Cit- Even before the city built its ter people were out of .com izens Advisory Council. odor-trapping subways, New the stink zone. ■ “Sometimes the cause is a bro- Yorkers in search of pretty The dirty elevator Poll: Do ken sewer line,” he said. “It could smells weren’t exactly coming solicited complaints you run also be something on the surface.” up with roses. throughout the week, into foul- And unfortunately, it takes a lit- In some parts of town in and it has won worst- smelling tle more than a few spritzes of air 1892, the stench was so bad subway smelling elevator freshener, sometimes a lot more. that a group of neighbors in stations from a disabled riders A sewer stink is sometimes northeast Brooklyn banded to- daily? group two years in a ■ Tracker caused by construction accidents, gether to find out exactly what row. Luckily for blog for and the stink may slowly dissipate the stink was all about. straphangers, a transit transit even after a cracked line is Calling themselves “The Fif- employee with high- updates patched. teenth Ward Smelling Commit- powered disinfectant Bathroom odors can be flushed tee,” a group of men escorted mopped out most of away with a little more police en- public officials in a steam-pro- the smell Thursday, but the war on forcement and a lot of scrubbing— pelled skiff — the subway of its odorous subway stations is not except in elevators, contends day — up Newtown Creek to over. Subway stench can be caused by broken sewer lines, bathroom Michael Harris, spokesman for the investigate. “The farther you go uptown in odors or any number of other reasons. (Jefferson Siegel) Disabled Riders Coalition. He According to the Brooklyn Manhattan, and anywhere in the spoke to MTA disabled access offi- Daily Eagle, the smells grew so Bronx, it gets pretty bad,” said Cleanliness is a serious subject will be on the roster by fall to keep cials Thursday about lining eleva- bad that they were sickening Jamie Rocha, waiting for a No. 1 for New York City Transit, and as stations fresher, trains cleaner and tors with aluminum instead of the city’s residents. train at 34th Street. “I don’t really part of a new customer service ini- platforms and tracks clearer and wood and linoleum to combat em- (David Freedlander) know how to describe it.” tiative, about 350 more cleaners safer. They’ll also be able to re- bedded odors. politicians lullaby us with sweet lies and omissions New carts to SCOUT Web when we should know bet- ter. Talk Back — An Other Greek, Bronx out pesky problems Besides the outrage of one Mayor Michael Bloom- n’t know.’ ” Bloomberg said Environmentalists say borough carrying the bur- berg is sending 15 staffers Thursday in a Brooklyn the city has not ad- den of all the city’s waste out in golf-cart-like vehicles playground where one of dressed the high vol- in the form of diesel to cover 300 miles of New the so-called scooters was ume of waste passing trucks, the fact that the York City streets each day to on display. through the Bronx. train carrying NYC waste look for quality-of-life viola- The team of staffers, amNY.com readers goes all the way up to tions like litter piled on the known as the Street Condi- share their thoughts. Albany just to come back south to landfills (e.g. in sidewalk and potholes in tion Observation Unit, will the road. be charged with hunting Perspective is important, Virginia) seems a com- and this is a complex is- plete ... waste. “It’s government’s re- down everyday bothersome sue. We shouldn’t let — Robert Jereski, Manhattan sponsibility to find the prob- problems like trash piled up lems and fix them, not to sit in a lot, graffiti, fallen trees Mayor Bloomberg unveiled 15 vehicles Thursday that there and say, ‘Duh we did- and clogged storm sewers. (AP) will help the city enforce quality-of-life violations. (AP) AUGUST 21 – STAYING ALIVE (1983) AUGUST 25 – Viewers Choice: All screenings begin at HITCH (2005), THE WAY WE WERE (1973) 8:00 pm. Gates open at AUGUST 22 – THE OUT-OF-TOWNERS (1970) 6:00 pm. At Rumsey FILM or BAREFOOT IN THE PARK (1967) Playfield, mid-park at AUGUST 23 – KRAMER VS. KRAMER (1979) 72nd Street off Fifth You decide! Vote by logging on to Avenue. Enter the Park FESTIVAL AUGUST 24 – MADAGASCAR (2005) www.7online.com at East 69th Street. Rain or shine. Guest DJs will PRESENTED BY play from 6:00-8:00pm. AUGUST 21 THROUGH AUGUST 25, 2007 Bring a picnic. /contests FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY 04 CLICK ON FORECAST 84º/61° 77º/60° 74º/62° /multimedia ◗ Video ◗ Flash The race for space: Surviving the city’s growing housing crunch ◗ Pulse of ◗ Blog beat ◗ Watch it From amNY.com’s am/fm When you hail a cab and are whisked off to your destination, you inevitably must contend with a music blog certain low-grade panic. But one rarely articulates :_\Zb Yes, seriously, I went to see Justin Timberlake that angst to the driver. This hilarious video looks Most popular Wednesday night. HBO, who was taping the at a taxi passenger’s meltdown as the cab driver show for a special to air Labor Day weekend, takes him for what would appear to be a routine ■ ‘Astor Row’ looks to invited me, and I ride. Type “Taxi Panic Attack” on YouTube.com. honor benefactor thought, “Why the ■ Review: ‘High School hell not?” And it was Musical 2’ like nothing I had ever seen before. Two sum ■ Mom: City marred up in two words: slick son’s funeral spectacle. To flesh it ■ Manhattan defying real out, we arrived to find estate downturn the arena packed with ■ City Living in Hollis soon-to-be-scream- k_`j ing girls. Read more at /blog. ◗ Contest Box Log on to WIN 2 LOEWS LAST WEEK’S WINNER Flk The winner for last week’s contest is amny.com/contests MOVIE TICKETS to tell us... Bill Creel Q 9fc[e\n[\j`^eQ9cf^j QJki\Xd`e^m`[\f What is Billy Q@ek\iXZk`m\]\Xkli\j Crudup telling Hmmm, a rap Mandy Moore at duet with QJc`[\j_fnjQ8l[`fi\gfikj Pavarotti might the premiere of just work. Q9i\Xb`e^e\njQXd@ej`[\i the film Q:`kpC`m`e^QLj\i^\e\iXk\[Zfek\ek Living in Hollis “Dedication?” ]\Xkli\j1 WEBPOLL RESULTS AUGUST Webpoll Contest Q DLCK@D<;@8 Q K8CB98:BJ VOTE EVERY DAY Vote once a day to win $50 in Will high society at&t gift cards & Blackberry Pearl ! ever again have See today’s front page for the question of the day and using the class of your at&t phone, text your vote (A or B) to amNY (2669) or Brooke Astor? log on to www.amny.com* *No purchase necessary. Contest open to residents of NY, NJ & CT. Must be at least 18 years of age. Winners may not Q M@;<FJ have won a prize from amNewYork in the last 90 days. All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply. Void YES 8% NO 92% where prohibited or restricted by law. One entry per day per person. For complete rules, go to www.am-ny.com Contact us: Published and distributed free Monday through Friday except major holidays by Tribune New York Newspaper Holdings LLC, 330 W.