SINKING THE REDBIRDS?

s a revenge-obsessed nation only had eyes and ears to the now-consummated State-ordered homicide(that's how they legally put it) of Timothy McVeigh, I couldn't help but notice a half-page column by Gersh Kuntzman on last Monday's edition of The New York Post.

In that article, Kuntzman mentions veteran Brooklynite Stan Fischler's campaign to preserve to posterity some the 40-year-old Redbird(the dark red cars that operate on the IRT lines)trains from a MTA-planned watery grave, as the new high-tech trains gradually take over the lines that are still, as of this writing, bravely serving the 2, 6 and 7 subway lines.

The aging fleet, which is comprised of 1,500 cars, will be taken out of service this year, and the Transport Authority plans to submerge the old but reliable cars into the ocean in an attempt to create artificial breeding grounds for fish.

In my opinion, someone in the transport authority either has water in the brain or has been eating stale sushi.

Although I do agree that it is due time to replace the old, noble trains, I do not think that the trains deserve such a sad demise. After all, they are still reliable enough to be in service.

My suggestion would be the refurbishing and sale of the trains to nations that cannot afford the state-of-the-art cars that New York is slowly receiving(we already see some of them on the 2 and 6 lines) . For example, many South American cities have ailing suburban trains that are in pitiful condition, and I do not doubt that a deal with New York to have some of the Redbirds sent there would be quite welcome, since we all know that in many states investments are desperately needed into education and roads - they need brand-new trains like a hole in the head.

Another solution would be to recycle the cars and make their metal and glass useful again in some other industry - after all, steel and glass, I believe, are recyclable. If they do that to illegal guns, why can't that be done to some of the old trains?

In Stan Fischler's opinion, the Post reported, MTA's plans are "a waste".

He is campaigning for the preservation of twenty of the soon-to-be-replaced 1,500 cars as a landmark to the history of New York subway system. His idea is to keep ten for the Transit Museum and the remaining 10 along the much-cherished 7 line to Flushing,Queens.

In this writer's opinion, the idea is not bad at all.

Many cities around the world keep historical trains running. In Brazil, there are carefully preserved steam trains that still run on occasion. In San Francisco, the old cable cars are carefully preserved and are still in service.

New York City killed the "Nostalgia Special" over twenty years ago, and now plans to send the Redbird fleet to rust in oblivion under salt water.

If Stan Fischler needs supporters to his cause, count me in.