Why won’t anyone adopt a subway station?
In a clarion call to the private sector last year, Gov. Andrew Cuomo urged big businesses to adopt one of New York City’s grubby subway stations and lavish it with care. Fifteen months later, his Metropolitan Transportation Authority has yet to announce a single station adoption, a result that may have something to do with the unappealing prospect of aligning one’s corporate brand with a system that’s proven a magnet for bad headlines.
“How do you co-brand with a subway station until people feel the subway system is on the way up?” asked Kathryn Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City, a business group whose board is populated by Wall Street executives. “If you’re a salesperson, it’s a pretty hard sale.”