Just as the New York Transit Authority is preparing to cut back rush-hour subway service, close auxiliary token booths, and pare major bus routes in an effort to cut costs, it has set aside $10 million to replace the windows in its Brooklyn headquarters. That's about $7.1 million more than the authority will save by making the service cuts. There are approximately 1,100 windows in the massive Brooklyn building, making the cost per window around $9,000. Transit employees interviewed by Newsday said they don't understand why the windows are being replaced. "What's wrong with the windows we have? They open. They close. You can see out of them. What do we need new ones for?" According to a report the authority sent to the Legislature to justify the capital budget, the windows are "drafty and allow water seepage during heavy rains."

Elsewhere, Transit Authority officials disagreed with Angela D'Urso, a Manhattan legal secretary, on the possible need for capital spending at a station that she claimed had exposed electrical wires and... missing windowpanes. To prove her point, D'Urso snapped some pictures. Problem is, she violated an obscure Transit Authority rule that prohibits taking photographs in subways. So two Transit Authority officers slapped her with $75 in fines. When she said she couldn't afford that, she received another $50 ticket for breach of peace.

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