Tip o’ the pixel to Nancy Goldner, who had this Letter to the Editor in Tuesday’s Boston Globe.
Where’s transparency on T’s naming sale?
IN THE wake of the failure of transparency and accountability that led to the loss of $25 million of MBTA pension money uncovered by the Globe, we need to restore the “public” to the quasi-public MBTA. (“Ex-T pension chief recommended $25m investment that went bust,” Dec. 20). Now there is another troubling disregard of the public dimension. The MBTA is turning our T stations and rail and bus lines into commodities for sale to private corporations that can come up with the $1 million price tag. In return, they will get naming rights, branding, advertising, and online and on-site promotion rights.
A small advertising notice announcing the Corporate Partnership Program appeared in the Globe Metro section on Dec. 26. Selling off the public spaces thousands of riders pass through everyday will subject us to relentless advertising pitches whenever we ride the T. Don’t riders deserve a say before the MBTA further commercializes our public spaces?
Nancy Goldner
That sent the hardscrambling staff to the 12/26 edition of the stately local broadsheet, and this ad:
Half a million for the Tom (Not a Racist) Yawkey Station? One million for No.9 Park Street Station?
Cheap at half the price, as Soupy Sales would say.
It's Good to Live in a Two-Daily Town 