Travelling internationally has reinforced my positive opinions of NYC's mass transit. Sure, it's occasionally gross, and certainly less polished than London or Paris, but it's 24 hour presence is truly special. It's redundancy and express/local service patterns are also unique. You seem to be able to afford cabs -- that isn't the case for a good portion of NYC's population. That I can go from Williamsburg to Inwood in ~1 hr. 15 min. for $2.50 at 2am Sunday morning....that's something special that other cities can't compare on.
I'm not excusing the cost overruns and budget mishaps the MTA is prone to, but these stereotypes of a cesspool-like NYC mass transit are dated and a disservice to their actual typical operating conditions.
Several cities in Europe that don't run 24h/day every day at least run overnight on Friday and Saturday nights. (London doesn't, since the unions are currently blocking it.)
But your point would work if you'd chosen 2am on Monday.
Copenhagen's metro runs 24 hours a day, every day, but it's small and new (and entirely automated).
I'm not excusing the cost overruns and budget mishaps the MTA is prone to, but these stereotypes of a cesspool-like NYC mass transit are dated and a disservice to their actual typical operating conditions.