Subways are for sleeping: NYC Transit survival thread

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

Jesus, that sounds like hell

I hate the subways being used for advertising and pretty much everything about this kind of marketing stunt but I still woulda been stoked to imagine for a few minutes that Awkwafina was actually on my subway train making announcements.

This delay brought to you by kitkat... take a kitkat break!

ugghhhhhhh

At first I thought it was just one of the would-be MTA comedians and then I actually did think it was her on the train for a bit.

I think I heard this too, the announcement was something like “next stop manhattan so hold your breath...just kidding” but f all advertising, especially in small, enclosed inescapable spaces

yeah, she said something like “Next stop, Manhattan, which means we’re going underwater so hold your breath.”

think we are in for a week of this

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-awkwafina-no-7-subway-train-mta-20200116-studswagvrbjdmjg3hdxa52piy-story.html

Also, who the f is awkwafina?

tsk tsk

screamed at the conductor for helpful announcements [/snark] during 20-minute sick passenger delay

i can't take this much longer

let me google that for you
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awkwafina

It’s unclear how much Comedy Central paid for the takeover, but MTA officials said they hope to open up their public service announcements for more sponsorship opportunities in the future.

yeah no fucking thank you, even if they're all as charming as awkwafina