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New York City's subway riders have spoken, and in the case of Jackson Heights' Roosevelt Avenue/74th Street station, the resounding verdict is: Take out the trash!
In a poll released yesterday, riders surveyed at 15 of the city's busiest subway stations ranked Roosevelt Avenue dead last in cleanliness, and second from the bottom overall.
"It smells," said Lina Johal, 17, of Jackson Heights, echoing the sentiments of several subway patrons interviewed yesterday. "It's not really taken care of."
The survey was conducted from April to August by the Straphangers Campaign, an advocacy group for bus and subway riders. The group distributed 39,500 post cards at the city's 12 busiest stations (all in Manhattan), plus the single most-used stops in Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx.
The almost 3,900 people who responded gave highest marks overall to the Yankee Stadium/161st Street station in the Bronx. Fifty-first Street and Lexington Avenue-where thousands of Queens commuters transfer daily from the E and F trains to the 6 line-fared the worst, with last-place ratings in four of five categories. Riders were asked to judge station cleanliness, crowding, security, ease of movement and station information (signs and announcements).
Gene Russianoff, an attorney for the Straphangers Campaign, said the survey's overriding theme was overcrowding. "People want less- crowded...