https://www.villagevoice.com/2018/03/13/the-trains-are-slowe...
If my memory serves me well, it made a pretty convincing argument that the MTA was deliberately and publicly misconstruing the "slow train problem" as a result of "congestion", effectively blaming the success of the city for the failure of its public transportation. The Voice article rendered this commonly-touted line of defense not just misleading, but flagrantly incorrect.
From my perspective, it seems that the reversal of policy reported now, only came into existence because of the line of investigative reporting that began with the Village Voice piece.
Credit for your commute's speedup probably belongs, at least in part, to the Voice's fantastic investigative reporting (a full 2 months before the linked NYT piece). Even more reason to support your local journalists! :)