The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is $34.4 billion in debt, but it somehow managed to scrape up more than $75,000 to fund an advertising campaign in New York City aimed at instructing male subway riders to keeps their legs together while sitting.
The Washington Free Beacon reports that the MTA "hired Edison Lithograph and Printing Corp. to print thousands of posters and placards, which will appear in 2,600 subway cars" to the tune of $76,707 taxpayer dollars. "Dude... Stop the Spread, Please" is the theme of the man-spreading campaign:
In a press release, the MTA announced that the new program "highlights behaviors that are both encouraged and discouraged for the benefit of everyone," and that "the messaging largely reflects complaints and suggestions from riders."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Other MTA-funded ads promoting good etiquette will discourage people from "primping" on public transportation, blocking doors, and using safety poles for performance purposes.
-
South Korea's divide over allowing Google MapsTalking Points The country is one of few modern democracies where the app doesn't work
-
'The Office' gets a spinoff and the Guinness family gets the 'Peaky Blinders' treatment in September TVthe week recommends This month's new television releases include 'The Paper,' 'Task' and 'House of Guinness'
-
Hostile architecture is 'hostile — to everybody'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fineSpeed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in IntelSpeed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to ChinaSpeed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with DisneySpeed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B dealSpeed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance mergerSpeed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profitsSpeed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new highSpeed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
