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It was really terrible in the 70s when the city went bankrupt. Then it got better, and now it's getting worse again.

The state took over the subway system when the city went broke. The MTA is a state agency.

> Are there objective metrics that demonstrate service quality has degraded (reduced train frequency, reduced amount of seats, etc...)

Yes, there are, and the NYTimes has reported that data in previous articles from this same series.

I didn’t live in NYC during that era, but from my understanding it was a personal safety issue (gangs), not a mechanical safety issue.

I can emphatically state that five years ago, there was much less over crowding, more frequent trains, and less delays.