" The Board of Estimate’s widely publicized hearings did not attract unruly and sizable crowds. In fact, only a few hundred spectators attended. A Cornell University public health professor, Wilson Smiley, was one of the sixty-nine people who testified. He warned that overcrowded subway cars were increasing the dangers of spreading influenza and pneumonia. When the mayor asked him, “Wouldn’t that apply to people going to churches?” Smiley responded to great laughter, “Our churches are commodious and well-ventilated, but very seldom overcrowded. "

― , Last Subway: The Long Wait for the Next Train in New York City