What an overwhelming response to tonight's topic. Every line was ringing for the entire hour. And we got dozens of Tweets to go along with the 100+ emails below. What do you New Yorkers think about eating on the subways? Grab a cup of coffee and start reading.

If the food goes away, will the rats follow? State Senator Bill Perkins thinks so, and he's introduced legislation that would ban eating on subway trains and in stations. The bill would impose a $250 fine on straphangers sneaking a bite.

For more than a decade, all food and drinks have been banned from PATH trains. Is it time to bring the ban to New York City? Supporters of the legislation think it will severely reduce the rat population underground. Critics complain the fine is too high, and the bill will be difficult to enforce. What do you say?

Do you want to see food banned from New York City subways? Is the proposed $250 fine too high or just right? How frequently do you see straphangers eating on the subway? Is the rat problem out of control where you live?

Send your thoughts using the link above.

The rats are out of control uptown on tracks and platforms Something needs to be done about it so I am for it I see people daily eating and not just coffee and bagel They are eating very strong smelling overwhelming in a subway car. Some of the food I have seen eaten on the train include spaghetti, Curry chicken, KFC, McDonalds. Let's talk about this for a minute The food is the least of the offensive things happening on the train. People should take care of necessities at home in private.

Eat at home or after you ride the train

Jim
UWS

So can we fine them when the stations aren't cleaned due to their negligence? I mean, just look at the "brand new" South Ferry station on the 1 line...do the leaking walls and floors have anything to do with people eating? Do the cars on the Staten Island railway that are being held together with duct tape have anything to do with rats? Maybe instead of fining the people, they should open their wallets and fix their own broken system for a change.

-Luke, Grant City, Staten Island

The subways should not become rolling restaurants and this ban should also apply to buses which have become not only rolling restaurants but rolling phone booths. Perhaps Sen. Perkins would consider including buses in his legislation.

NYC is the pre-eminent City in the country and we should be setting standards and not following especially when it comes to our transit system.

I ride the 31 bus in midtown which travels to the Upper East Side and, in particular during the rush hour at night, it becomes a mini school bus where children are having their snacks including pizza on a number of occasion. (Not much supervision by their nannies and all the small children take seats - no fare paid -which should be for the workers from the many medical institutions on York Avenue.) Then, there are the so-called adults having salads, wraps and even soup. The bus drivers would have to become enforcers on seating etiquette as well as eating and cell phone users. I am not quite sure how Sen. Perkins would take care of the enforcement. Perhaps we need to post signs and in a number of languages regarding food, and courteous use of cell phones and seating.

Maddalena
Midtown West - Manhattan

The stench of food and the sight of food discarded by unscrupulous people should be fined proportionate to the amount of food consumed on subway trains and in stations. A subway ride is not an overnight flight abroad, drinking and eating should wait to the privacy of your home, a restaurant, or a place designated for these activities. The subways are unsuitable for eating because of the nauseating appearance of rats and other sights and smells. I really don't know how can't anyone control their hunger pangs until they reach a nice place where they can enjoy their food without imposing the unsightly act of eating and smell of someone eating where they shouldn't. Rats will be discouraged to live where food is scarce.

Rafael
Bushwick

Is Mr. Perkins prepared to sponsor and pass legislation to make up for the revenue that the MTA will surely lose from merchants who rent space in the stations, who will want a reduction in rent (and be entitled to one) in return for giving up a significant part of their revenue stream?

Bruce
Upper West Side
Manhattan

GOOD LUCK WITH PASSING THOSE FOOD LAWS. IN THE LAND OF HOORAY FOR ME AND TO HELL WITH YOU, A LAW WILL NOT STOP THE BEHAVIOR. RATS ARE FURRY AND HAVE LONG TAILS. ROACHES ON THE OTHER HAND ARE SMALL AND TRAVEL IN THE HUNDREDS. THEY CAN CLIMB INTO YOUR BAGS AND CLOTHES.

YOUR APARTMENT CAN BECOME THE NEW HOME FOR THESE BUGS. YUM!

JOE, BAY TERRACE

What about straphangers whose medical conditions warrant frequent caloric intake. Path trains are clean and subways are filthy. and what about starving rats; dont legislators have any compassion. If the subways get any more rules, the straphangers will have to goose-step.

JS
Flushing

I always remember signs on buses and trains saying no food or drinks allowed. Now who is the one to enforce this? The same ones that enforce fare beater. That’s mighty dangerous especially given to the danger to drivers.

PLEASE LETS NOT FORGET THE ROACHES ON THE BUSES. IT IS DISGUSTING TO SAY THE LEAST. I WAS CITY BUS AND IT WAS FILTHY RIDING ON A NORTH AND SOUTH BUS LINE. I HAVE SEEN CHICKEN BONES AND SUGAR CANS AND BOTTLES WITH ALL ROACHES ROAMING THEM ON THE BUSES.

Thank you John,
maxxiee
mp

John,

I think there should be no eating on the subway, but I see nothing wrong with drinking a soda or a cup of coffee. New Yorkers will go berserk if they don’t get their morning java fix.

Joe
Port Richmond, SI

that is a good call we do not need food or drink on mass transit- will keep them cleaner and also ever notice most of the people eating in the trains and buses could afford to go without a meal

tom
richmondtown

I don't know if it'll work but I wouldn't mind seeing food banned because its disgusting. The subway is not your kitchen, have some consideration for other riders. I just don't know how to legislate manners and common sense.

Teri
Jackson Heights

HELLO JOHN! THIS TOPIC NEEDS DISCUSSION. RATS ARE A SERIOUS PROBLEM IN THE CITY, AND IT'S DISGUSTING, DEMORALIZING, AND DEPRESSING TO BE SURROUNDED BY THE FOOD AND OTHER TRASH PEOPLE LEAVE EVERY DAY IN THE CARS AND PLATFORMS AND STAIRS -- ACTUALLY, EVERYWHERE!

THE OBJECTIONS ARE SOME OF THOSE MADE TO THE BAN ON SMOKING. OVER TIME PEOPLE ADAPT, STEP BY STEP, AS THEY DID WITH SMOKING. ALMOST EVERYONE WANTS CLEANER SUBWAYS FOR REASONS OF SANITATION, FEWER FIRES, AND A MORE PLEASANT COMMUTING EXPERIENCE. AND, PEER PRESSURE CAN BE POWERFUL.

ONE THING: WATER BOTTLES MUST BE ALLOWED; THEY'RE OBVIOUSLY NECESSARY TO MANY OF US.

THANKS FOR BRINGING UP THIS TOPIC.

MAGGIE
UPPER WEST SIDE, MANHATTAN

The ban proposed by State Senator Bill Perkins that will make it a violation for anyone who eats food on a train will be fined $ 250.00. Now in my humble opinion this is a exercise in stupidity. As New Yorkers we are always on the run and need to eat on the run. To begin with if a person eats than liters than fine them but not for eating. A fine of $250.00 is excessive and would be a fine on people who can least afford it. Also where does it stop, maybe eating a bag of chips or a candy bar and even a cough drop. Let's get real. I think Senator Bill Perkins is clearly out to lunch. We don't need another tax on the poor. And as for the rats they are the ones who pass laws that hurt the 99%.

Freddy- Glen Oaks Village

I agree with people needing to be fined for littering. My question is what happens to people who are diabetics. They have to carry fruit or glucose snacks with them to prevent their blood sugar from dropping too low. Patients going to doctor's appointments travel in fear of falling onto the tracks. The sealed snacks are odorless and are not hot like beverages. Just wondered if anyone has taken this matter into consideration? Will they have to carry notarized statements from their physicians to avoid being fined? People can carry crack, but, can't carry a snack. What in the world will be next?

Kathy from Throggs Neck da bronx

I think this is a terrible idea. The problem isn't the eating; it's the cleaning up!
The MTA needs to a better job of it. Additionally, riders who are eating should
be more responsible and properly dispose of their trash. We are a city on the
move, and working people are often in a hurry and don't have time to stop and
eat. There are New Yorkers who are working more then one job, and the only
time they might have to eat is when traveling from one job to another.
I really hope this bill doesn't pass.

Barri
Jackson Heights

Instead punishing the riders, they should take care of the trash. Stop using plastic bag and start using solid containers like in europe with a lid. They are not solving the problem of the rats at all.

Fay

PETE FROM MANHATTAN:

The legislation is worth a try. There's been a 25% reduction in station cleaners and track cleaners since 2007, and those jobs are not coming back. The TA only has 2 vacuum trains to clean over 700 miles of track, and those trains break down constantly. Changing passenger behavior to encourage eating meals at home or in a restaurant is the only way to prevent the rat population from overwhelming the subway system.

I think this is a very good law but enforcement will be the problem, especially on subway and bus lines that traverse the five boroughs. The number 2, 3, 4, 5, R, 7, Q, especially on Thursdays, Fridays, and the weekends. Many young people today have no notion of appropriate social behavior. Many think that eating pumpkin seeds on a train and spitting out the shells onto the floor is OK behavior. Many adults on any given morning on their way to their job or school routinely stop by a Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, Panerea and pick up their local java, and whatever to drink, eat and digest. With a police force of 40,000, how does the good senator expect to enforce this with a population of over 3 million New Yorkers riding the subway system?

Lee from Astoria

Another politician attacking windmills, they really have nothing better to do with their time? Yeah the Subways are a mess and there are rats, but a 250 dollar fine sounds like another way to scam people out of their money. And who is supposed to be catching these people eating while on the train? I saw a guy eating a sandwich and drinking a beer on the 4 train yesterday, at 12 in the afternoon. There are no transit workers in the system anymore and the police seem to have a hard enough time stopping the people stealing electronic devices and sexually harassing women, but they are going to be able to stop people from eating and drinking?their hair on the train to save time.

Maybe if the system ran better and people could get from point A to point B in a timely fashion they would not have to eat, put on make-up and do And what about our fellow New Yorkers who pretty much live in the Subway system because they can't afford to live anywhere else. Are they going to ticket homeless people eating in the transit system too? And as people have already pointed out this law would mean that all those stands in the stations could not sell food or drink anymore, since it would kind of be counter-productive to this whole police action. This is another law that will do nothing but cause friction and make this city more miserable then it already is.

RL-The Bronx

$250 for eating is outrateous! It's more expensive of a ticket than urinating, smoking, or drinking booze on the subway! What about the diabetic & hypoglycemic?...

Jeremy
Forest Hills

Banning foods and drinks would help with keeping trains cleaner, but what it really does is cut costs for the MTA, while they continue to raise fares on riders. The problem isn't food and drinks. The problem is the punk that thinks it's OK to litter. I would support increasing enforcement and penalties for violators, but not an outright ban. I'm tired of responsible adults giving up their rights due to the selfish actions of a few idiots.

Frank, Sunset Park, Brooklyn

Finally, PATH has forbidden food and drinks in stations and on trains for decades.

Doug
West Village

I feel eating on the subway is disgusting and should be stopped. The trains for most part are crowded and when people dump their trash on platforms this creates a very unsanitary condition. I dont like the subways due to what I saw many years ago at the 14th st station in NYC. I saw at least 25 rats on the platform and I got really scared of the sight to see.

I think the fine is reasonable considering the severity of this situation

Paula from Staten Island

People in general are slobs and if they used receptacles a ban would not be necessary. City does not have resources for enforcement anyway. Only a change in attitude and behavior will help.

Jim, Turtle Bay, Manhattan

subway or bus, is irrelevant, it is inconsiderate of the other riders. Many times other passengers have spilled their food on me.

derald

Its disgusting to see people. Eat on the subways Subways are not a place to eat.

Jim-Inwood

Hi john,

I generally agree with this idea but again it is coming at the expense of freedoms - eating is a basic right and if i'm on a 2 hour F ride from Queens to Brokkyn i should be able to snack or drink. People react to their environments. A dirty station tells me it won't matter if i add to it. A clean station shows me that someone cares about my health and i am less likely to litter. I am sitting here with 8 other subway takers and we all agree that the ban needs to be on throwing trash into the tracks and in the station and train. Impose a high fine on littering and the MTA will be able to afford more frequent emptying of receptacles and extermination initiatives.

Tj ft greene

Hi - Is it certain that reducing food trash will reduce the rat problem? I realize it seems intuitive but is there any evidence? Does the PATH have less rats? Will there be any enforcement? The law is no good without some enforcement. Also $250 is too much - should be $50

thanks!

David in the East Village

ITS A GOOD IDEA BANNED FOOD IN THE SUBWAY BUT $250 FINED IS TOO MUCH.... ITS MORE LIKE SOME ONE PAY CHECK.

SAMAD
ELMHURST

Food ban should include buses which are now Roach Mobiles because of inconsiderate riders.

Elaine
Murray Hill

i think its a great idea to ban food in the subways, the fine is a bit excessive, but if that what they have to do to get the riders attention then so be it,,,, i just have two questions

1. what about the homeless people who live in the subways how to you address that problem

2. who is going to enforce this $250 fine

peter
hollis

I think it is a good idea to ban eating on the subway definetly to get the rat problem under control. Also there are no bathrooms on the subway anyway. The fine of 250 is too high though. 100 would sufice.

Tom south beach Staten island.

The trains will be cleaner, and they'll lay off the workers who clean these cars since they'll have less to do. The suits can then pocket the money saved as they raise the fare again.

Mike Z. from Richmond Hill Queens.

Personally, i think that not only do we need people to refrained from eating in the trains but we also need more MTA employees cleaning the tracks... most of the time it looks like the tracks have not been clean in years Lets clean the tracks and then work how much to give these people

YES! Subway eater shoudl get fine! but $250.00 is a bit too much for a first offense

I see people eating in the trains on a daily basis and I had observed many new yorkers leave behind their tracks Perhaps, if a fine is given people will think twice before eating in our subway system

Marilyn
Woodhaven, NY

Slapping a $250 fine on someone for eating a bagel on the platform is too restrictive and limits severely our way of life here in New York, and there is no statistical study demonstrating that this will eliminate rodent problems. Let's face it, we've all had something either on the train or the platform one time or another, right? Fine the person caught littering, not eating.

Sean

I don't think we should be penalized for eating on subway because there are some ppl, like me that have diabetes, and need to eat on certain situations.

Brian

If you are going to ban eating then you need to ban the sale of food in the subway. I'm sure those in favor of the ban won't mind paying a higher fare to make up for the lost income when merchants start closing.

Sara
Bay Ridge

This city is a fast-paced one where people don't always have time to eat before work. We also have system that carries a lot more people than system like that in Washington, D.C. where eating is prohibited - New York City should encourage people to be respectful with their garbage - so put more than two garbage cans in an entire subway station, and clean the stations more thoroughly. Fine people $500 for littering and let them eat!

Charlie Marshall, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn

A few concerns:

Will police be giving tickets to kids who ride the subways to get to or from school, and then drag them into family court or just have outstanding warrants if they don't tell their parents?
Will babies in carriages get fined $250 for eating cheerios or having a bottle?
Will they close the vending booths that sell candy and chips in the subway stations?
Why don't MTA workers just empty the trash cans everyday instead of imposing fines on NY'ers?

Ann
Riverdale

Although enforcement will be difficult if not impossible, I am for banning eating on the subway. I see people eating everything imaginable absolutely every time I ride the subway, (every day.) Enough already!

Peace, Nick
Hell's K.

In addition the food fine I'd also like to see a fine for shaving, clipping toe and finger nails, clipping nose hair, picking their nose, not moving into the subway car to allow for more passengers as will as anumber of other things.

Matthew

I think people should be allowed to eat because new Yorkers live very busy lifestyles and having a snack in the subway is no big deal,,,,now we just have to be adults and clean up,,,,BUT if you wanna eat in the subway and you litter then you have to strictly enforce the fine

Ray
Queens

It is sad that whenever their is a problem the good citizens of the state has to pay for it. Maybe the problem is that the workers are not doing their jobs or maybe if the garbage is removed from the station everyday and not ones a week we would not have this rat problem. $250 for eating a candy bar, ridiculous!

Jose from Harlem

Hello my name is alex from harlem n.y and I honestly think that $250 is too accessive for eating in the subways... No matter where it is we eat in the city, the rats will always be in the subways and in the streets... Theres no way giving people fines will eliminate the rats..so y bother someone eating on thier way to work or school...

Hi John:

After years of watching riders eat breakfast, lunch and dinner on the subway, I support this proposal. I remember the days of snack and gum vending machines on subway platforms, and they disappeared without much opposition. Let's cut out the smelly fast food that dominates the choices of many who dine on the 7 line. We'll all be healthier for it.

Patrick
Sunnyside

I wish they would fine people for littering on the subway trains and stations, but not for eating or drinking. Some of us have to eat on the run. What they SHOULD get rid of are those horrible, tone-deaf "musicians" who make it hell for those of us who are forced to listen to their noise whilst waiting for the trains. I consider them an atrocious nuisance even worse than the rats.

Frances
East Village

I have called all night with only a busy signal----This issue is completely ignoring the reasons that people eat on the subway. The trash left is the issue. The number of children who need to eat on the subway on their way to school is one issue-- the number of homeless is another-- people who travel more than an hour and a half to work. How are you going to collect on this ticketing? How are going to man the courts to deal with people who just can't understand-- have resources-- etc. Maybe this is one othe social issues which should be dealt with in schools.

Marisa

I think it would be an excellent idea to ban eating food on the subway. Aside from the hygiene issue, the aroma of certain foods, while appetizing to some, can be nauseating to others in that enclosed space.

I think a $250 fine is too high, $100 would be sufficient. I can't imagine that it will be enforced too strenuously anyway. But it would be a good thing to train people that eating on the train is not acceptable behavior.

Alan
Manhattan

What an interesting way for the city to make money! Step one: Get newsstands to sell candy bars, chips, and drinks at almost every subway station in New York City. Step two: Make it a crime for anyone on the subway to eat or drink what you just bought! Criminalizing previously legal behavior? How is this not a blatant money-grab for fines by New York City? Doesn't this give police even more excuses to arrest and incarcerate people than they already have now? PS: For those who hold up the DC Metro as an example: Isn't that where the police arrested a 12-year-old girl for eating french fries back in 2000? Is that really the future we want for New York?

Chris,
Lower East Side

I think the fine is great idea. But I do think the fine is bit because you never know what people's finical problems are. You should clean up after you eat. How would you like to go to the subway station and see a rat eating a sandwich or a moldy sandwich. Kids like me are seeing this everyday when we take the train to go to school. New York is setting a bad example for us.

From 10 year old Devon .

1) More trash cans.
2) There needs be more workers to clean.
3) Ticket the people who litter.

Many people that have to work multiple jobs may only have the time that they are on the train to eat.

They removed 1 of the 2 trash cans at the 190th train station 3 years ago. I have watched riders SHOVE bags of half eaten food under the seats on the A train.
Those are the people that need to be fined. Not someone eating an apple or feeding a baby some cheerios. Who gets fined there? The parents or the baby?

Kristine -Washington Heights

I do not agree. There are plenty of parents travelling with children that must eat as the move on to the next destination. NYers need to learn to clean up behind themselves, to treat the subways and the streets as if it was their home/property.

On another note what would happen to all the vendors at Penn Station, Grand Central, Rockefeller Center where they have fast food vendors and restaurants under ground.

Tee from Flushing

IF YOU EAT ON THE SUBWAY,LIKE PIGS,THEN. YOU SHOULD BE EATEN BY RATS.

JIM-INWOOD

It will to hard to monitor people with food or drink on mass transit. A $250 fine is outrageous. However, I will say this, if you have to stand on mass transit you should not have hot drinks in your hands.

Fine the people who liter.

No food nor drink will not change the rat problem nor the garbage problem.

This is not a good law.

Susan
South Ozone Park

We are living in an increasingly restrictive society and whereas we do need to get a handle on the rodent problem in the subway, this isn't the way to go. Would you fine a diabetic stuck in a subway car from eating out of necessity?

Kenn from Bayside

i believe its a law being made for control, it isnt about the rats its like slavery all over again, and police just want to have control over everything and everyone food is bought for eating, we pay to get on the subway then you cant tell us when to eat our food. i do believe the law should be if your caught throwing don any food or beverages then you do deserve a fine next their going to tell us what we can do in our own homes.

Anonymous

When graffiti is a problem, do we ban spray cans? No. We increase fines and penalties and increase the rate of cleaning up. Stop trying to restrict the rights of responsible adults.

Frank, Sunset Park, Brooklyn

Perkins obviously doesn't know his so-called "constituency". Does he really think people in Harlem and other predominately minority neighborhoods want to give the NYPD another reason to harass them. The law will never be evenly enforced. If the MTA & NYPD simply enforced the existing littering laws, there wouldn't be problem.

Sheldon
Crown Heights.

MTA could restrict certain cars (front or back) for people who want to eat, like dining cars. It’s disgusting to sit across from someone who eats certain foods such hot foods (chicken, sandwiches, bagels). bring your food (breakfast or dinner) to work!

Of course, people who eat should clean up their mess and stop littering. Litterers should be fined.

Thanks.

Peggy/Washington Heights, Manhattan

Have any of these callers ever been to Washington DC or any other city where food is not allowed on subways? Have they ever felt what it is like to NOT see Doritos all over the floor or smell fried chicken mixed with cheesy pizza? It is a dream that New Yorkers could make reality.

Jacob

YES!!! PLEASE LET'S FIND A WAY TO STOP THESE INCONSIDERABLE PEOPLE STOP EATING IN OUR TRAINS--AGREED WITH THE FINE BUT NOT AS HIGH

I HAD SEEN PEOPLE EATING FROM FRIED CHICKEN TO SOUP IN THE TRAINS NOT ONLY IS DISGUSTING BUT ANNOYING TO OTHER PASSENGERS, AS WELL, AS
THE FINE SHOULD BE GIVEN TO PEOPLE EATING A MEAL BUT FOR A SIMPLE SNACKS, LIKE PEANUTS

CLOSED CONTAINERS ARE HARMLESS.. LET'S ADD MORE TRASH CANS IN OUR SUBWAY SYSTEM!

MTA EMPLOYEES SHOULD TAKE A BIT MORE RESPONSIBILITIES BY CLEANING THE TRACKS

THANK YOU
MARILYN, WOODHAVEN

Ban it!
People leave food and trash everywhere!
Sometime it's deliberate, sometimes accidental.
Either way, I'm tired of smelling peoples' McDonalds when I'm trying to get to work.

David

Why is having food on a subway train or platform the problem? Why isn't it ignorant people who treat the earth like it's their trash can. Address the real problem: fine people who litter.....including those who throw cigarette butts on the ground.

Cristin
Upper West Side

1) Why don't we just enforce the littlering laws we already have? Why do we need a new law?

2) Will the City then lower the rent for the vendors who pay rent, and signed a lease saying they could sell food and Drink? Or will the City expect the same rent while curtailing the items they can sell?

Michael from Staten Island

By all means, YES, ban eating on the subway. Anyone who says that food does not attract rats is fooling themselves. This has NOTHING to do with minorities either.

Bill
Manhattan

i believe its a law being made for control, it isnt about the rats its like slavery all over again, and police just want to have control over everything and everyone food is bought for eating, we pay to get on the subway then you cant tell us when to eat our food. i do believe the law should be if your caught throwing down any food or beverages then you do deserve a fine. next they'll be telling us what we can do in our own homes.

Tenaya, Harlem

What do the do seeing that they have vendors down there selling food -

davenport from Hollis..,

How does the bill define eating, and what constitutes food? Okay, gobbling
chow mein from a cardboard container isn't cool. But is popping a couple
of Tic Tacs or taking a sip of bottled water a violation? Can you chew gum?
And, if you're surreptitiously snacking bite-sized morsels from a paper bag,
should a police officer be able to search your bag for culinary "contraband?"

Many people have to eat at certain times for health reasons, and others need
to take medication that must be washed down with a drink. These rules have to
accommodate special needs and circumstances and should be based on common
sense. But, yes, there should be some restrictions on people using a moving train
as their personal dining room, not only to maintain a cleaner environment but also
in the interest of passenger comfort and safety.

BIG ANDY
Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn

I think it's high-time we banned food and drinks on the subway. Even well intentioned people leave messes behind and it makes the subway ICKY for everyone!

The food and the rats in NYC subway is an embarrassment for all New Yorkers!

- Sai

I agree 200% I have never understood why people would even eat when entering such a dirty place, as the subway.

The running late and grabbing something to eat on the subway excuse isn't valid enough. Plan ahead and get up earlier! the subways are jam packed in the morning hours, how could you possibly eat?

Oh! and do you know how many spilled coffees I've seen either on the train or platform? Countless!

Is this enforceable, I'd say it would be difficult, but hopefully this is what will make commuters think twice about consuming food in such unsanitary place as the subway.

Claudia, TriBeCa

I am a Transit employee, train operator to be exact. The reason behind the push for this overbearing law is because of the pigs who bring food onto the trains, eat what they want and then throw the remaining food on the floor! I don't see a problem with people eating a quick bite, but clean up after yourself and remember what your parents did or should have taught you, if you carry it on full and heavy, carry it off empty and lite! You wouldn't throw it on the floor in your or your friends livingroom floor, so why do you do it on the train? I see it too much so I say when you catch a slob, make him have to do community service for a month, like 2 hours a day cleaning up after everyone else on the trains!

Rich

I agree with the eating on trains and platforms but drinking I'm against. What's going to happen in the summer? It gets pretty hot in those stations and climbing up and down those stairs make you tired and hot. People might pass out. Yes to drinking no to eating.

Kelijah

I was from Hong Kong. My country subway train is no food and no drink all the time. I am very agree MTA subway should not allow eating / drinking at all. I saw the chewing gum all over the floor, it is very disgusting. It will carry germ and rat from food on the floor. MTA should have people cleaning with bleach to kill the germ every night. Fine money should be there. Thank you

Winny

I think it's ridiculous, we are a metropolitan city, we are transient people who are always on the go. Instead of placing a hefty fee on people who eat maybe we need to fine the people who litter, who don't put their trash in the receptacle. Since the MTA has decreased the number of MTA agents and cleaning staff the subways have been disgusting, absolutely filthy. Hire the appropriate people to keep the subways clean; I have never seen a cleaning person during the day/evening, the garbage receptacles are overflowing. Even the buses are filthy. The subways are not going to clean themselves and the MTA should not wait until the midnight hour to clean, we need service during prime time.

John
manhattan

I agree with Deborah from upper west side. Rats and mice dwell in these dark places anyway and no food policy would not change this. to fine people!??!? Really!?! This is just another way the MTA is trying to take advantage of NYC transit riders. Let me ask where is this $250 going? Cuz it's not going towards rehabilitation on these stations but perhaps the pockets of the MTA top management . It's a law that is a waste of time With our hard Earned $$! Maybe the MTA should get fined for charging exorbitant amounts to ride the trains per month in the shoddy conditions of stations. That would be justice!

Jae from queens

I think that Bill Perkins should expend his energy elsewhere. There are too many exceptions, hungry children on there way to school from a shelter. Mothers feeding their children. Will there be a different fine for a bag of MM's in comparison to a whole meal. Perhaps if they could hire subcontractors to clean or welfare workers and pay them a realistic wage maybe that could be part of the solution. But this bill is extreme

Diana

The fine doesn't make sense! Can u even estimate the number of rats down there? And y arent the train cars themself not designed with garbage bins?

Mark, Brooklynn, ny

I think the fine is a superb idea. If $250 dollars don't wake people up,maybe a bite from a subway rat will. At the end of the day,we need to take control of this rat problem and banning eating on the train is a great first step. People like to complain but don't want to compromise to solve the issues. I'm all for it!

Phor from Harlem

I'm the 2nd caller who you interviewed.

Here's a another thought:

Add the buses. They might not have rats but it's gross when you are sitting on a bus and you realize there's a cockroach on your seat.

Enid

Instead of banning eating on the subway maybe we should hold one another accountable for our actions. As residents of NYC we should empower one another to make good choices. Taking away a person's ability to make rational decisions on such a micro level only further serves to undermine our status as capable individuals.

Katie, UWS

Recent legislation and more bans: You can be followed around with cameras in stations, have your bags poked and checked at random, and get gay married on the subway but not drink soda which is good considering tge soda tax. And all this for $2.25 which will soon go up to $2.50 and was $1.10 less that 10 years ago. This is ok because the city is closing your child's school and you will be moving out of the city soon enough. Just remember not to get hungry on your way out or it will cost you $250 Let's be honest: whose the real rat??

Tj
ff greene

It won't stop the rats, the only thing that will happen is that hard working people will get fines

Anonymous

I see more kids tossing food/wrappers/peanut shells etc than adults. Can you fine a juvenile $250? I don't mind if they ban food in the subway, but the MTA's efforts to clean the subways and remove trash are woefully inadequate.

Bruce. UES

Eating on trains leads to litter and garbage on trains and on platforms which lead to unnecessary numbers of rats which can be avoided by banning eating on trains.

Tanya, Bay Ridge, Brooklyn

What about diabetics who need To eat at ransoms times?????

Michelle

NYC=RATS. Period

Besides that it's DIRTY. If there's an effective solution to either set back, then let's do it. People have an excuse for everything!!! You don't NEED to eat on the train. Wait til you get off. No line on MTA is that long where you just can't wait a few more minutes. I don't totally agree with banning on the platforms however due to their horrendous delays and such. But that's where commuters should "dine" if they absolutely HAVE to.
Eliminate the food. Eliminate the garbage. Eliminate the rats.

Kiki

P.S. If NYers didn't eat so much already, the obesity rate would go down too. Once less lunchroom won't kill you.

People who eat and throw there gabage on the train and in the subway are disgusting there shoul be a fine i hates the rats and their dangerous

Tonya

I agree with not letting people eat in the train station. I feel it will reduce rats and Make the trains much cleaner and better breathing air. For the 250.00 ticket ...... I feel thats too much with all the poverty going on I feel 100.00 will be ok.

Carmen

Sanitary behavior begins @ home when your young, people who liter in the subway's don't have home training. There is a trash can in every corner of N.Y. use them.

Angelina

Does this mean that when I ride the subways with a cup of Starbucks coffee I could be fined $250.00 even with a closed lid? What happens when I drink coffee out of my own coffee mug?

Lisa - Upper East Side

By the way John -- I love your new desk. Now I want one as well.

I support the idea to fine people eating on the trains since it's a gross habit and people are slobs. But, the rats will always be here.

-Don from Astoria

Im not for that. Its very simple as to why it should not pass, first not all new yorkers are dirty and irresponsible, and second people are in ahuury that they dont have any other choice. Bloomberg should think a bit more.

O

I disagree with the ban and believes it would cost the city more money to enforce this law by having officers in the subway to enforce it. The rats are disgusting but the city needs to treat the rats instead of attacking the citizens.

Feola

Who is thinking of ways to make money on the poor people of NY. They should go after the pigs of the subway not the rats.

Joseph

I grew up in nyc in 50's and 60's and it was against the law then to eat on subway.There were signs in every car that said "no eating,no spitting" and signs on the platforms as well.So when did it become O.K. to feed on the subways anyway.They had it right back then,just like lots of other stuff. People are pigs and it only takes one rotten apple to spoil the barrel!!!!!!!

Ted B .
upper west side

First, rats aren't eating what's on the subways. They're eating in the stations. There are not nearly enough trash cans, and the ones that are they are not emptied often enough.

Let the people eat, but make them be neat.
Fine for littering.

Elaine

I don't agree with this $250.00 fine. I feel that you should fine people that literal and not people that eat.I am a high school student and after practices I would like a sack because school food is not that good therefore I disagree .If i'm hungry I should be able to eat.

Anonymous

Rats are a natural part of NYC subsystem, $250 is a lot to fine someone for a problem caused by the lack of keeping the stations clean.

Mark

There are bigger issues than food on the train: There are hundreds of riders each day who can't get on the subway because others keep their backpacks on and take up a space for two. Or maybe fine passengers that push into the subway while others are trying to get off the train.

Best,
Roger

People throw their food off the platforms and also in the actual cars, please please please ban food. Boston does it. I dont want to smell your food, sit in it, or have to navigate around it. If people could be responsible and not litter I wouldn't care, but people can't handle that. People who say its just another way to take money from the poor is suggesting only poor people litter.

Dori

it shouldn't be about eating, it should be about littering. again, the privledged don't understand how a lot of people live in this city. some people have 2 jobs and go to school and the subway is the only place they have time to eat. Put more litter baskets in the subways and clean them more. Maybe enforce the littering rules. but stopping people from eating? people have to eat.

Meryl from Manhattan

Don't punish before educating

Announce between every station and advertise And trust peoples good sense.

Todd

Who's got a free hand to hold food anyway? With the lack of trains everyone is packed like sardines especially during rush hour on the Queens F train, and nobody has room to breathe, let alone munch on breakfast.

Vera, Forest Hills

Seriously? How can you expect people not to eat on public transportation when the MTA can barely stay on schedule with all of their delays and construction. They make it extremely hard for people to coordinate their schedules appropriately. I used to hate people eating on the trains for years and tried to balance my travel schedule around It until I got fed up with with the systems irregularity and found myself extremely hungry and spending an extra hour or so Cooking dinner. Which chops into my sleeping time Bc now I would have to get up an hour earlier to fit eating breakfast in my schedule??

Darin, Inwood

As a person who works all the time and is rushing from one job to another, to pick up kids from school, etc, often the only time I get to actually sit down and put something in my mouth IS when I have to commute! I NEVER LITTER! as a matter of fact, I am the type to actually pick up a newspaper and put it in the trash! A $250 fine for eating on the train, IS RIDICULOUS! They need to put some of our fare money to pay for sanitation and put more garbage cans in stations!

Muncie in Harlem

I think eating should be banned in the subway and a fine imposed those who violate the ban. However, the MTA must keep the subway cleaner. Also those with health issues and can prove it should be exempted. But $250 fine is excessive.

Keith

My name is monae b. a student of cathedral highschool I think this law is unfair because $250 is too much for a highschool student trying to get a quick breakfast.

Monae

You are awesome, love how you handle all points of view.

On the topic: as I do think that eating on train for most people is unnecessary, I do feel that the MTA does not do enough to clean up, they let the garbage pile up or they stuff it in a room for sometimes weeks on end and on top of it all they never clean it up throwing some watered-down bleach would help a lot and is not that hard to do.

Q.

All I hear are the people that pacify this matter of eating and leaving garbage. I will never get how someone eats on top or around other people. You can have 10 jobs seven days a week the train is not for eating period. The fine is incorrect. The fine needs to be $500.00. The subways is not rapid eat on the go and leave your garbage behind. As soon as the city wants to do something right everyone has a complaint. Some people have a conscience and take their garbage but there is just to many people leaving the garbage. There are no MTA cleaners that pick up our garbage due to the recession or did the straphangers forget that. Raise it to $500.00 and watch how no one eats.

Adriana

Were will the rats go if the trash does disappear, I dont believe there gonna just vanish.

Mark from Brooklyn ,NY,

I think more than anything there should be no littering in general... whether you are in the subway or on the street... If anything, those who litter should be fined. I have to agree with an earlier comment where there are not enough trash cans available in the subway just like it's rare for you to find a payphone in the subway nowadaways. To keep New York clean, everyone must work together.

I am not saying for someone to go out and bring all utensils and have a sit in dinner in the train or subway, but in my experience, there are times when I get hungry while in the train that I munch on a bar or a piece of chocolate. It's even worse when it's summer time when it's so hot and humid and it's not unusual for a train to get stuck or delayed... What are you going to do if you have no drink with you? You're going to die of thirst.

Anonymous

Are they going to shut down all of the vendors that sell candy and food in the stations? If they sell it then we should be able to eat it in the station

Keo

I can tell you my own personal experience of leaving the West Fourth Street subway station late one night: in the dark on West Third Street, as I turned the corner and began heading towards the Blue Note, an entire hoard of rats swarmed across my path on the sidewalk from the garbage on my right, several of them rushing headlong into my feet as they made for the basketball court on my left. The complaint I submitted to the city went unanswered.

Eating in the train is obviously not very desirable, but the $250 rich man's fine is outrageous (although not surprising). The oligarchs ruling the city are far more interested in exploiting their subjects than in stopping the rats -- and even if it did interest them, they have little time to spend on such trivial matters when all of their energy must be spent suppressing freedom of expression and protecting the self-made reputation of university department chairmen and other influential members of the community for as long as possible.

Signed, the usual culprit (Greenwich Village)

Why don’t the MTA link up with sanitation to clean the subways. If they’ll hire people to come in off the streets to shovel snow in snow storms why not pay these same people to clean the subways. Everybody can use some money and since there is a shortage of MTA workers maybe look for people who don’t have jobs and are looking for even a little something to earn to feed their families. Nobody should be paid MTA wages so that its enough money to go around. I think it is necessary to band food but they have to clean it up before we are even interested in any of their bans. So thanks “again” MTA for “again”raising our prices and once “again” giving us worse service. At the end of it all I hope this idea comes to light because there’s always someone that wants to work and when we see it clean we’ll want to keep it that way.

Tamika

Why is it when the city have a problem thats out of control they always find a way to inconvience the public or make is pay..the subways has always had tat problems. That fine will only get more people locked up, a lot less jobs in the mta maintanence...

Catherine

Rats are just trying to survive, blame the people and the mta for being slobs.

AK in Chelsea

I've lived here in NYC all my 73 years and can't figure out why the city transit keeps such a dirty house. You can see the same garbage on the tracks day after,month after month.disgusting.People should be fined for littering. NYC government is being naive about the rodent problem. Because it is everywhere. When the garbage is put out in plastic bags ,. I see the rats running and jumping in and out of the garbage all over the city. Food waste should waste should be put plastic bags then those bags should be put in plastic covered garbage cans. When something does not work, try something else.

MALVANEY

Good idea but way too late. The fines should escalate like 1st offense $100 2nd offense $200 etc... The rat population is already too crazy I doubt if a million rats will just go away.

Green Eyes Jeff
Harlem.

To ban eating on subways is right. Most of the people that do this are inconsiderate to their fellow riders. And the price is right to keep it clean.

NJ

Anyone in favor of this ban is welcome to come cook me breakfast in the morning so I can actually eat at home!

-Natalie, Brooklyn

What about the food vendors in train system are you going to close them down.

Dominick

Am I the only one that doesn't think eating on the subway is totally disgusting? Honestly, I have nothing but sympathy for the people trying to eat a banana on their way to a busy day at work. Heck, sometimes I'm one of them! Let us eat in peace!

Nicole, Brooklyn

First and foremost, people should not litter. The worst part, are the plastic bottles. In this matter, empty or not, they roll and hit your feet. Or spilled liquid, often sticky, hence the sugar in soda or juice, or coffee. I never understand why people do litter. I suppose those that do have their homes full of rubbish on the floor, live with rodents, or simply don't care about the environment they live in. It's more about who you are as a person and how you contribute to your environment. People should have more common sense, wherever there's trash of food, rats attract. I say pass the law. I'm for it! This is the only way to have rodents free and cleaner subways! I'm a New Yorker and I don't want to see trash and rats, nor live in my city with trash and rats.

So what are you waiting for? Pass the law!

Maya