Could've Been Worse

Last Thursday, a prankster hacked into an MTA message board at the W. 4th St. station-one of those electronic signs that usually flash public service messages-and typed in "Pretty Girls Don't Ride the Subway." It remained up there for several hours before the sign was finally unplugged.

No one can say whether the prankster was an MTA employee just having a little fun or some bored teen working from a home computer. Most of the media coverage of the incident focused on outraged female straphangers who were deeply, deeply offended by the message, and on the veracity of the message itself. Without fail, every story concluded that pretty girls do indeed ride the subway.

But by concentrating on the message, the media completely missed the issue here. As a friend of ours pointed out, "Whoever did this let the MTA off with a slap on the wrist." It's true. Whoever cracked into the system had the world open before them. They could've posted anything up there: something obscene, something political. They could've fucked things up by announcing rerouted trains, bomb threats or terrorist attacks. Had they wanted to, they could've sparked a panic.

But they didn't. Instead they posted a mild little joke. For that, the MTA should be grateful. And instead of asking riders and clerks if pretty girls ride the subway, the reporters should've been asking MTA officials why it is that their computer system is so easily compromised.