“why are new york subway stations so dirty” (5/27/08)

I don’t know. Let’s ask our friends in D.C.:

This City Room reporter was riding on the Metrorail system in Washington this week when she spotted a poster with a large rat glaring down on her, with the ominous headline, “You gonna eat that?”

This text followed: “Unlike some subway systems (which will remain nameless), you don’t see rats the size of house cats roaming the Metro. Why not? Because we are so strict about eating and drinking in the system. So help us keep the critters away. Please don’t eat or drink on the Metro.”

A subway system that shall remain nameless? Rats the size of house cats? Was the New York subway system the victim of a Page Six-style blind item?