January 12, 2008

When I saw that ad in the subway that says, “Last year, 1,944 New Yorkers saw something and said something,” I asked myself the same question as the New York Times did on Monday: how did they arrive at that number?

A Mr. Christopher P. Boylan, deputy executive director of the MTA, squirms away from the question, telling the Times: “I don’t want to say that the accuracy of the number is secondary to the message, but the message that we wanted to get across is that those calls are, in fact, having an impact.”

Well, glad to hear that, but the 1,944 figure is definitely off. I should know: during the period in question I called in 1,952 reports myself.

Whether it’s a suspiciously bearded man lingering beside me on a platform or somebody carrying a large, bomb-shaped package or someone speaking in a distinctly foreign accent, I can usually get in three or four calls on my morning commute alone. On slow days I even throw in a couple of false ones, to keep the FBI on its toes.

To the MTA, I say: “You’re welcome.” And to my fellow commuters: “What on earth are you all waiting for?”

Comments

[Keara]

You know, the fact that you're calling in that often means that they no longer take you seriously. WHen I worked in a call center, and we had people call that often, we would no longer even write down the information that the person supplied. It's like chicken little. stop telling the world that the sky is falling.