A Round and a Roundy: The MTA’s ‘Parade of Horribles’
Cartoon: Bill Roundy
On Wednesday, MTA Chairman Pat Foye said his agency's massive, multi-billion-dollar budget shortfall means he and the MTA Board must confront a "parade of horribles" — a reference to the tough choices the agency must make to keep the trains and buses running.
What a term — a "parade of horribles." It conveys so much in so few words — and provides the inspiration for this week's bonus cartoon by our editorial scrivener Bill Roundy.
Where does such a term even come from? We wondered, so we dove into the Google to discover that legendary subway activist Gene Russianoff used it back in 2009 during an earlier round of budget negotiations. He revived the term in 2015...during another budget crisis.
Dan Rivoli, then with the Daily News, used the term in 2018 to describe the L train shutdown (before it was avoided).
But it may turn out that the term dates back to a 1993 lawsuit against the railroad company Conrail over worksite conditions after a railway worker died toiling in the sun on a hot day.
In other words, transit companies have been facing these unhappy parades for decades.
All of Bill Roundy's cartoons are archived here.
Read More:
Stay in touch
Sign up for our free newsletter
More from Streetsblog New York City
Friday’s Headlines: Yes He Said Yes He Will Yes Edition
That headline above is a reference to the last line of James Joyce's Ulysses, which we won't pretend to have read. But we have that ... and other news.
Madness: Port Authority Will Spend $8M to ‘Study’ Widening Outerbridge Crossing
Will this $8.3 million find out anything we don't know about induced demand?
Study: How Low-Income People Really Use Micromobility
Shared bikes and scooters are meeting low-income people's basic mobility needs — but they're not being subsidized like it.
School Bus Driver Hits Cyclist, Injures 3, On Major Brooklyn School Bike Route
The crash happened on the route of the weekly Bergen bike bus.
City of Yes Yes Yes! Adams Calls for Elimination of Parking Mandates on ALL New Housing
Mayor Adams today announced the historic end to one of the city’s most antiquated — and despised — zoning laws requiring the construction of parking with every new development.
