Whoring

Nextel bought a train on the Las Vegas monorail. Now the MTA is whoring itself out to the highest bidder. The article points out that while naming things like stadiums has a huge draw, this is in part because the name appears everywhere-- tv, radio, and in print--it may not work for a mass transit system that smells and people get shot in.

Even though I was fairly young when it happened, I thought it was pretty stupid that poor Brendan Byrne lost his place in history to continental Airlines. So why put up with it? I propose that places only be referred to as their christened name. If Grand Central Station ever becomes The White Rose Grand Central Station, or something equally absurd, everyone should just call it Grand Central Station.

As a side note, I suppose I could live with branding in some cases, such as if the subway was renamed the the Subway subway.