Subways are for sleeping: NYC Transit survival thread

dearest father _stanton

Was there work on EVERY. SINGLE. LINE. this weekend? Fuck trying to get to the UWS on Saturday night, it took me 1.5 hours and 4 trains. :( It was like a "musical chairs" of getting dumped off one line b/c of trackwork, going to another platform, and finding there was no 3 service, no uptown F at Essex, the 2 was local, the N was express to Times Sq and then stopped...etc etc.

Any of you guys been on the E train lately?

last time i was on the e there was period blood on one of the seats. i was just like...HOW does this happen?

do you want your answer in MSPaint or ASCII?

i rode the nostalgia train today!

o_O

http://www.forgotten-ny.com/SUBWAYS/Nostalgia%20Train/nostalgia.html

it was neat!

o awesome do they only do that once a year?

Sundays on v line thru December

maybe ill go next week, that shit looks super dope

it is basically just luck of the draw when you are taking the f/v.or i guess you can go to the transit museum and make sure you get on one @ last stop.

o i thought it was like a "thing"

all aboard the Pakistinky Express

http://www.mta.info/nyct/service/events/nostalgia.htm

hey, the kaleidoscope is back at Grand Central

noxious gas experience on the 2 train the other night. not my gas! it was crowded so the source was untraceable, but there was a sort of hilarious and furtive sudden covering of noses with scarves, gloves, newspapers, whatever was handy. it was foul, and it lingered all the way to the next stop (which was a ways). couldn't help wondering if the culprit was mortified, quietly proud or utterly indifferent.

(or filming us all for some hilarious youtube video.)

how did I know the F wd suck this morning? MTA can no longer deal w/ cold, rain.

i feel as though every train sucks lately.

cept the nostalgia train, of course.

There has been SO MUCH trackwork lately, on pretty much every single line. Is that normal before the holidays? I don't remember it being this crazy in previous years.

i really feel like the L had improved 10-fold and now they are reverting back to their old ways. grr.

they're running so many trains on the l line now. during morning rush hour, they're going once every minute or so, which seems to be leading to congestion.

and i have to admit, i've been pretty lucky in terms of delays. nothing worse than waiting for 3 or 4 minutes between stations, which is no big deal.

I never saw all that gross stuff on the E train mentioned above. Maybe people were riding on the Jacob's Ladder undertunnel ghost train version?

The ACE is nasty as hell man. The A train always smells like someone put a bunch of hobo rags in front of a fan and the whole time it's blowing in your face.

youre fucking crazy dude i take that train all the time and it doesnt smell like anything

like not even "its not that bad burt" literally that train has no smell except normal train and subway smells

The best part about the A, I think, is that it goes CRAZY FAST between Manhattan and Bk. Way faster than any other train I can remember being on. I definitely feel like the cars are hurtling through the tunnel like a Chinese dragon in a bad cartoon, and I always enjoy that.

I love the announcners on that thing. NEXT STOP, CROOKLYN! Sure beats the L train's "please stand away from the closing doors. boom boom"

the A is my favorite train cause it goes everywhere that i go

based on my daily commuting experience, A > C >>>>>>>>> F

though the one C conductor who wishes us a happy day and hopes we enjoyed riding the C, "the best subway line in the system," is pretty rad

i love both the A and the C but i gotta say whenever i ride the 4 5 6 it makes me feel like im in a different city

I hate the 4/5. 6 is admissible only because no one wants to take the local so it's not too crowded.

Laurel otm about the 6.

Re: Conductor announcements. Best things I ever heard them say were
"Attention passengers: we are being held in the station due to a delay in service"
and
"Thank you for your inconvenience"

i dont know about the crowding i just mean that the 4/5/6 feel like future trains to those of used to taking the a/c

also, from brooklyn bridge/city hall to grand central in two stops (on the 4/5) is a kind of magic

There's an uptick in track repair? always feels like the same enormous fuxup 52 weeks a year to me.

omfg last year the L-4/5-2 combo nearly killed me.

waiting for the L in manhattan to take me to the G at 4am every night this week has been a TREASURE

Catching the G at Court Square isn't bad because they're basically always there. Anywhere else after 10:00 pm and you might as well sleep in a cardboard box somewhere until the morning.

Court Sq is almost intolerable now during the morning rush because there's only one small stairway for EVERYONE, thanks to the construction. The crowding leaving the G station is infuriating.

VERY NICE:

The MTA has proposed doubling the fare for Access-a-Ride, the para-transit system it runs. Access-a-Ride customers – including many disabled and elderly people – are among the most vulnerable. A doubling of their fare will make it much harder for them to visit relatives, get medical care and be out in the world. If, like us, you are outraged by the MTA proposal, please sign a petition at this link, operated by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer:

http://www.petitiononline.com/mbpo/petition.html

the a train entrance i use at 14th street is kind of a little side one with only one gate. last night a crazy homeless guy was purposefully blocking it by hugging the metrocard reader. as people lined up behind me i was like 'cmon dude' and was considering physically shoving him aside. he looked up at me with bright insane eyes and remnants of something unpleasant in his beard and blurted out, 'you're a big fucker!' and stepped away.

after i went through he leaned back on the card reader. i could hear the next guy arguing with him but i don't know what happened because my train was coming.

The ACE is nasty as hell man. The A train always smells like someone put a bunch of hobo rags in front of a fan and the whole time it's blowing in your face.

The best part of the ACE is then getting off at West 4 and going down to the BDFV platform in the middle of summer. OMG... nasty doesn't even cover it. :P

I usually just get out at W4 and walk the rest of my way when it's a really hot and humid day rather than face that lower platform. AND they opened a dunkin donuts on W3rd near Sullivan a few months ago. Hooray.

BTW.. NYC Transit survival skills: learn to use your elbows and you'll be fine.

Lyra I join you in celebrating the Dunkin Donuts over by Thompson, not just for easy access to bad donuts, but because the DD ground coffee in the stores is somehow better than the DD ground coffee sold in supermarkets.

getting off at West 4 and going down to the BDFV platform

Lyra I join you in celebrating the Dunkin Donuts over by Thompson, not just for easy access to bad donuts, but because the DD ground coffee in the stores is somehow better than the DD ground coffee sold in supermarkets.

I thought I was the only one who could taste the difference! My guess is the stuff in the stores is just fresher or something. I've been in love with DD coffee since college, we used to drink it originally because it was closeby and better than dining hall sludge coffee and I kind of got hooked. Playing with my wall E toy and DD from Thompson at my desk this summer:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3256/2661673635_eb1a517d73_m.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3212/2662587240_afce8b3495_m.jpg

and with a Pearl River chopstick ;-)