BETTER NYC — FIELD NOTES · 001

THE MTA IS
FALLING APART.
WE HAVE THE PHOTOS.

DATE: 2026-10-22 // LOC: 72ND ST STATION // FARE: $2.90 // TRASH PICKUP: NEVER // WIFI: RUMOR // SOURCE: SHOT ON IPHONE, IN THE SYSTEM

Wednesday morning. Our founder was standing on the platform — literally inside the MTA — sending these photos in real time. Trash piled on the tracks. A subway car that looks retired but isn't. A service door straight out of a horror film.

Richest city on earth. Late 2026. This is what billions in fares buy.

Trash piled on the subway tracks at 72nd Street
EXHIBIT A/001

The tracks are a landfill. Cups, bottles, food containers — sitting on the rails at one of Manhattan's busiest stations, in plain view of every waiting rider.

Grimy subway car 2269 with scratched windows
EXHIBIT B/002

Car 2269. Scratched-up windows, filthy steel, door pockets caked in grime. This car is in service right now, carrying New Yorkers to work.

"GATE TO
HELL"
— OUR FOUNDER, TEXTING FROM THE PLATFORM, 72ND ST
Filth caked between subway cars
EXHIBIT C/003

The parts you're not supposed to see. Between the cars, where nobody looks — except everyone does, every single day.

Ancient riveted metal service door across the tracks
EXHIBIT D/004

The gate to hell. An ancient riveted service door set into the wall across the tracks. It looks a century old — because it probably is.

THE WIFI IS
A RUMOR.

The MTA says the stations are connected. Try loading a page. The network appears, the captive portal spins, the signal dies between stations — and by the time anything loads, you're above ground again.

Approaching 2027, the subway's internet works about as well as its trash pickup. Riders pay $2.90 a swipe for the privilege of staring at a loading spinner in a tunnel.

NEW YORK
DESERVES BETTER.

FIELD NOTES = OPINION + FIRST-HAND DOCUMENTATION. ALL PHOTOS ORIGINAL, TAKEN 2026-10-22.
BETTER NYC IS A DESIGN CONCEPT — NOT AFFILIATED WITH THE MTA OR NYC HRA.