R.I.P. The Last Somewhat Private, Public Space in New York City

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority annouced that it reached an agreement on Wednesday with Transit Wireless to wire all the subway stations in New York City for cellphone use.

Though the subway tunnels themselves won't be wired, commuters can continue their conversations on subway platforms. New York isn't the first major city to work on getting public transport wired; D.C. has already started wiring its stations for cell use.

While my first instinct is to think that it's sad that commuters can't wait fifteen minutes to receive that valuable text message, the linked NYTimes Article mentions potential national security implications for having public transport wired, specifically: "Security experts have said that there are greater advantages in wiring stations so that people can call the authorities in an emergency or to report suspicious activity."

That may be true, but isn't it slightly more likely that enabling cell phone use will finally kill the last quiet space in the city? MTA, you suck.