My Solution to Summer Subway Misery

In the middle of summer, one could confuse walking down the stairs of any New York City subway station with entering the depths of Hell. Well, maybe it'’s not that hot, but it easily could be compared to a your standard sauna. Anyway, the other day, I was standing on the platform when a train going in the opposite direction darted by. Usually, I would have a sense of disappointment because I was tricked that the train going in my direction was coming, but in this case, I didn't care. The trains entrance into the station supplied me with a very nice breeze… Yes, there was still sweat dripping down my face, but it was a such a good feeling… This got me thinking…

Why don'’t NYC Subways have air-conditioners? Well, as we learned a few months ago with the fare increase, the MTA claims that they are broke. With this being the case, I cannot imagine that installing air conditioning is on the top of the budget priority list…

This brings me to my idea. My first thought was to have air conditioning companies supply their products to particular stations and in return they would receive sponsorship or naming rights of the station. But when I thought about it some more, truth be told, the air conditioning industry isn'’t necessarily the most aggressive when it comes to ad spending - so this wouldn'’t necessarily work. This being said, there are several other industries that DO. For example, the beer industry which in many cases promotes "“cold"” as a key marketing message. I believe there is even a current Coors light commercial that has images of a frozen subway car… I would have no problem with taking the F from Coors Light station on 63^rd to the Miller Genuine Draft station on Houston. Would you if it meant air conditioned platforms?

I suppose realistically, the Beer industry cannot single-handedly subsidize the air-conditioned platform project… What about supplying portions of select, high-trafficked stations with a "“(Submit advertiser here) Cool Zone”," similar to the airline lounges at airports. Customers willing to pay more would get access to "“the cool zone."” Between the advertising dollars and the additional passenger payments, I think this could definitely happen. It won'’t -– but I need something to think about while I'’m sweating my ass off on the platform...