Regard­ing the after­math of the recent New York City sub­way fire, MTA offi­cials imme­di­ately declared to the Times that fire­proof­ing con­trol rooms was impos­si­ble.

Now they’re say­ing that fire sup­pres­sion “could dam­age the relays as much as the fire did,” but maybe they’ll look into it.

This, you should know, is pure bull­shit. Tele­phone com­pa­nies have long relied on Halon gas fire sup­pres­sion to save equip­ment and pre­serve ser­vice in the event of fires. Many of the equip­ment rooms in Boston’s sub­way sys­tem (that are vis­i­ble from the plat­forms) are con­spic­u­ously labelled as being Halon-protected. New York’s pub­lic offi­cials are fab­ri­cat­ing com­plex excuses for not doing their jobs. The atti­tude reflected therein, this out­sider has decided, is the New York state of mind.