Subways are for sleeping: NYC Transit survival thread

So here’s a thing: when you are standing inside the car holding the rail above next to or above the seats and somebody gets up from his seat when the train stops and says “excuse me” and stands waiting like a Dr. Seuss character until you move, since technically you are between him and the door, although there might be another defender behind you, so you improvise a space but maybe this person should have taken a step or two into the middle of the car and left you out of it

at least they've waited until the train stops and there's a place to go

with the people who get up while the train's still moving it's like where, exactly, do you expect me to go

^THIS^

with the people who get up while the train's still moving

tbf if i didnt do this at Broadway-Lafayette, i may not make it thru the doors in time

a truly Dantean stop

oh yeah, i used to have a commute that required me to switch from the downtown 6 to the BDFM, which meant many days started with a dangerous sprint down two flights of stairs

for the Bwy/Lafayette to the 6, step one is position yourself in the first/last car as appropriate
step two is stand at the station BEFORE your stop and head for the door, step out, let new passengers out and then make yourself the last person in so you're by the door when it closes
step three: don't take the escalators, head to the stairs behind them

I have to get off the F and get to Mercer St, so i take the elevator unless it broke

it generally broke. or at least painted three shades of urine.

that's "local color"

http://fanart.tv/fanart/movies/145197/hdmovielogo/upstream-color-517a19a0eca7e.png

with the people who get up while the train's still moving it's like where, exactly, do you expect me to go

― mookieproof, Wednesday, January 8, 2020 9:05 AM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

this is one piece of subway etiquette that I never understood. maybe in a perfect world with a spacious train and a nice, generous window to get on and off you can wait, but in the real world it takes time and effort to fight your way to the doors, the driver isn't going to wait for you, and if you miss a stop as a result, depending on the stop that can add 15+ minutes to your travel time. or even if you don't miss the stop, everyone getting on the train is going to think you're an asshole because you're now trying to get off when they thought they were clear to get on

the actual worst though is when people stand in front of an open seat, but do not take the seat, thus blocking it for everyone else. especially on packed trains when that seat could be freeing up some space

the counterpoint is that expecting other people to adjust and move around while the train is moving isn't fair to them. i'm precariously balanced here, i'm stretching my lower back to twist around somebody and hang on to the pole, the train is lurching as it brakes and now i'm supposed to let go and move around? agreed with ulysses, if it's a full car you should start your journey to the door at the previous stop. obvious exceptions for those of limited mobility etc.

agreed totally about blocking an empty seat though. the WORST (except for standing still on the stairs).... prob have complained about it upthread.

The blocking an empty seat seems like a misplaced machoism of some kind. Like it’s unmanly to take a seat bc seats are for pregnant ladies and the elderly so I will refuse to sit down

or i just don't feel like squeezing myself in between two people just to stare at someone's crotch for 40 minutes. sitting down on a crowded train sucks

going to invest in industrial scissors to destroy all backpacks worn on the back

see also the people who try to stand up and maneuver to the doors while a full train is moving despite nearing a stop where over half the car will exit.

they really need to redesign the poles. I have seen some that take up the same footprint but in the general middle they diverge into 3 separate poles. So many more people can hold on without ending up on a surprise date.

i reserve hate for the people who just stand inside the car directly in front of the door and don't move when people get on. you gotta get in there! you are blocking me out!

I never sit down unless there is an empty seat on either side and will give up my seat for anyone

i reserve hate for the people who just stand inside the car directly in front of the door and don't move when people get on. you gotta get in there! you are blocking me out!

Good point about the alternating sides. And the rotating. A little rotation goes along way, the people who stand stock still like mimes pretending to be statues are the worst.

if the car is completely full, i get it; if not, step into the goddamn train

And stand in the middle like a chump? No thanks

standing in the middle is how not to get crushed!

If your stop is three or more stops away, you should move to the middle

sitting down on a crowded train sucks

― adam, Wednesday, January 8, 2020 1:39 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

sitting down on a crowded train is the greatest, and also means you don't have to worry about whether you're standing far enough to the middle, and also means you disagree with bloomberg:

I always stand. https://t.co/1QDM7KcST2 pic.twitter.com/kmc6F7IOIl

— Mike Bloomberg (@MikeBloomberg) January 2, 2020

(this is also why the correct answer to that meme is 4, unless you're getting off in 2 stops or something)

oh, it's weird it's taken so long for that ^ to show up. I like sitting next to the pole (but I hate sitting in front of maps because of people looming over me trying to read) but if it's a long trip it's 4 (I am also on the short side so it's not a big deal). I generally stand though unless I have a lot of groceries.

I prefer 3.

we all hate this configuration of train car though right? I am always disappointed when I see it roll up. They really need to design better cars. They kind of all have major areas for improvement at this point.

yes, but it's still better overall than the R32 cars on the C line

Yes, this configuration highly problematic

I actually prefer it -- the seats being broken up instead of being in one row means you have fewer manspreaders/people sitting juuust spaced apart enough that one or two more people could sit down, but it'd require everyone to move instead of just that one guy. and if you can get 4, then you have your own little bubble of space out of jostle/breath distance. (the rest goes 1, 2, 3, 5)

but seat 2 is usually a waste of space if 1 and 3 are occupied. Like make it a seamless bench for that area so we can stop pretending 3 people should be able to sit there in comfort. and they need a car at the front or back for the fucking bikes to be vertical. and areas in every other car or so for luggage or whatever else people in nyc try to take on the trains.

too tall for 4 at all and too tall for 5 if someone's sitting in 3

i like standing in front of 3 tho -- it's relatively out of the way on the side of the car the pole is nearest

1 for lyfe

leaning 1 bcz my aim in life is to get outta Dodge fast

but 4 has (on avg) the minimum of human contact

4

going to invest in industrial scissors to destroy all backpacks worn on the back

― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, January 8, 2020 11:47 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

fuckin hate backpacks

too leggy for 4
5 often involves sitting at an awkward angle while ppl squeeze by to sit in 4
gotta be 3, 2, or 1
probably 3

backpacks really are the worst of the subway annoyances since the urban hikers wearing them usually have no clue whatsoever that they're doing anything annoying

by far the single worst change to my quality of life in the past decade has been relying on the 1/2/3 rather than the N, which is a neverending parade of hell even when you don’t end up on a fucking shuttle bus, DOWN BROADWAY, AT RUSH HOUR

it has now moved to west end, an improvement in that it is now going 2 blocks per minute rather than 1

https://gothamist.com/news/water-main-breaks-near-lincoln-center-creating-monday-commuting-mess

good stuff

the urban hikers wearing them usually have no clue whatsoever that they're doing anything annoying

they have permanent earphone implants too

Indeed. Believe I just saw James Franciscus unearth just such a fossilized specimen in Beneath the Planet of the Apes.

meanwhile, the n/w, as usual, is almost comically pleasant (I was worried more than one person would realize the 57th stop is not much farther from columbus circle than the actual transfer, but that turned out to be moot since nobody’s fucking getting as far as columbus circle)

wonder whether the m4 or m5 would have saved me time, on the one hand they’re 40-60 minutes to/from Times Square on a good day, on the other hand my commute was longer than that, on the other other hand this is not “a good day” (and they’re rerouted anyway; for once the m4 might have been the faster choice). only other things I can think of is the m96 (but considering that’s the 1 terminus it seems like people would have thought of that too) or as a long shot the m60 (probably not, the time it would take to go crosstown enough to reach a line that isn’t the ABCD likely isn’t worth it)

meanwhile, the n/w, as usual, is almost comically pleasant
I always think this, and when I lived in Downtown Brooklyn always preferred taking the N/R. Even remember being on this line the morning of 9/11 and it was still like that while we were waiting to be moving shortly. Wasn’t aware of anything amiss until a little while later when I got off and saw some NYU security guard gesticulating and pointing down Mercer Street.

Conductor on 7 train keeps making jokes and reminding us to watch Awkwafina on Comedy Central. Maybe she’s just a fan but starting to think she actually is Awkwafina.

If so, I am not aware of a similar stunt being done before, although now that I think about it maybe I did read about such a thing.

Kind of glad I got to experience that without having read about it beforehand. Delayed SPOILER ALERT