Here’s some beautiful photos from the New York City Subway I found. Feel free to post links to others in the comments. (Note: Comments with links often get held in the moderation queue. I will check and approve them though!)

You can take a ride on the nostalgia train yourself this Sunday and next along the V line.  If you go, let us know how your trip was.  Send us some pics and we’ll post them.

Click here to view the embedded video.

However, walk your naked ass into the middle of a super crowded train car, and you’d have some issues.  The last thing any New Yorker would allow is some naked dude rubbing up against them.

The nostalgia subway train ran to Yankee Stadium for the final game, but did you know that it is also the final season for Shea Stadium?  Haha.  Yankee Stadium is stealing spotlight bigtime.

Anyway, the MTA is going to run the nostalgia train out to Queens for the final Mets game at Shea Stadium.

The MTA sent me a press release with the details.

Fans, along with NYC Transit officials, will board the 7 train from the 42nd Street/Times Square Station shortly after 11 a.m. and arrive at Willets Point/Shea Stadium at around 12 noon.  A fitting way to pay tribute to the long standing stadium and the train that serviced it for 44 years.

Upon arrival at Willets Point, fans will be greated jams from the MTA’s Music Under New York program.  Yeah, Willets Point isn’t “under ground” but whatever, the music will be good.

So if you’ve never had a chance to ride the nostalgia train, now’s you chance.  Actually, it is probably the best time to hit because it is cool outside.  The nostalgia train has no air conditioning, so riding in the summer is a very sweaty experience.

Photo Credit

Tonight marks the closing of the “House that Ruth Built” up in the Bronx.  To help celebrate, the MTA rolled out the nostalgia train.

The four-car “Nostalgia Special” is scheduled to leave Grand Central-42nd Street at approximately 6 p.m., arriving at 161st Street-Yankee Stadium about 30 minutes later. The cars, originally operated by the Interborough Rapid Transit system, began service in 1917 and it is possible that at least one of them carried fans to the game on the first opening day. WCBS

In all likelihood, very few major Yankee fans took the nostalgia train to the game.  The stadium opened today at 3pm.  Fans were there insanely early today for the experience.  Getting to the stadium at around 6:40ish would probably be later than most fans wanted to be there.

Who’s the best Subway musician?  Guess we’ll find out tomorrow at 8pm when the finalists perform again.

Kind of funny that this show might launch someone’s career out of the subway.  Like they would ever go back to playing on the platform after this…haha.

Watch it on MSG.

The current state of the subway: sh*thole.

Oh, and that’s the official “term” now being used.  New York City Transit President, Howard Robers Jr. told the New York Post that the subway system is extreme bad, and it isn’t going to get better any time soon.  By “extremely bad,” he means falling apart.

Enter more proposed fare hikes.  Well, you’d think that the fare hikes were proposed to generate money to refurb the system.  Nope.

Any of the proposed fare hikes would only maintain the current status quo.  So take around at the current state of dilapidation.  That’s what your extra cash would maintain, not fix.

The MTA has already invested $118 million in additional employees to clean subway stations.  However, one $40,000 employee has to clean an average of 5 stations.  To get it up to a daily routine, another 815 employees would be needed.

(By the way, that janitorial salary is $8,000 more per year than a rookie cop.)

So what’s the damage?  The MTA is facing a $900 million shortfall.  Wow.  Coming up on a billion dollars.  That’s ridiculous.

How do you even begin to handle that?  Re-enter congestion pricing.

Enter congestion pricing. Asked in a recent interview how seriously the commission was considering elements of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s traffic revenue plan to provide money that could bail out the authority, Mr. [Richard] Ravitch replied, “Very.”  [NY Times]

There’s simply no need for the number of personal vehicles we have on the road in New York.  Think about how many are just parked in the city, let alone the number that are moving around at any given time.  It should really be treated, and priced as a luxury.

Take that cash and reinvest it in the subway.  First bring it up to par.  Then expand service to accommodate and serve more New Yorkers.

Ok, this has absolutely nothing to do with the subway, but it was so unreal, I had to share it.

So I took a little trip to Shake Shack in Madison Square Park this afternoon.  Had a couple brewskies before getting there, and had to make a tinkle.

Luckily, they have that fancy new electronic pay toilet there.  I was so pumped.  I had seen it on TV, but never had the pleasure of partaking in the experience.

So there was a line.  Only two people in front of me.

An older man went in and took his time.  Not obnoxiously long, but long.  Maybe he couldn’t find the button to get out of there.  Who knows.

Anyway, there was a woman in front of me with her boyfriend.  She was doing the pee pee dance which was funny because I’ve never seen a 30 year old do that.  Anyway, there was a clear look of desperation in her eye.

Well, the door opened, and the man emerged, but no relief for the woman.  Why?  The rinse cycle.  The entire bathroom gets a spraydown between each use.  The door closes.

Well, she inches over to the control panel where you insert your 25 cents.  Still dancing.

Then.

Plop.

I look back over to see that she is literally crapping her shorts.  Right before my eyes.  A grown, normal looking woman has poo falling from her shorts onto the sidewalk. 

I was in just as much shock as her I think.  I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

She finally made it in there.  I had to pull out my camera, because I was going to have to tell this story, and no one was going to believe me.  No one would believe that she was literally inches away from the toilet, and dropped a load on the sidewalk.

The experience will probably haunt my dreams.  Then again, it was a crappy day for her.  (Ohhh pun intended.  Couldn’t help myself.)

A barge full of subway cars head out to sea for their watery graves. Judging by how long the MTA keeps trains in service, I would estimate that those trains were made in 1903. See more at Gothamist

Via Flicker

Gov. David Paterson announced his support of Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan for NYC.

“Congestion pricing addresses two urgent concerns of the residents of new York City and its suburbs: The Need to reduce congestion on our streets and roads, and thereby reduce pollution, and the need to raise significant revenue for mass transit improvement,” Paterson said.” [Daily News]

Of course, it eventually turned into a bit of a political stroke job when Bloomberg (and other pols in support of congestion pricing) started saying things like “…Paterson has shown true leadership ability…” etc.

“Congestion Pricing addresses two urgent concerns of the residents of New York City and its suburbs: the need to reduce congestion on our streets and roads, and thereby reduce pollution and global warming; and the need to raise significant revenue for mass transit improvements. We expect that revenue from the Congestion Pricing plan will support more than $4.5 billion in needed capital improvements for mass transit and meaningfully reduce traffic into the Central Business District of Manhattan. Before the constructive process of deliberation proceeds in both the City Council and the State Legislature, transparency requires that the public fully see what the system envisioned by the Commission will entail. While Commission Report highlighted other issues which need to be resolved, introducing this bill allows the City Council and Legislature to examine the details of the proposal and make an informed judgment on the Congestion Pricing program.” – David Paterson

So it seems positive thus far. As long as everyone keeps their eyes on the ball, perhaps this wild idea stands a chance. I must say, the more times they can say the words “$____ for transit improvements…” on the record, the better. Then there will be less room for them to wiggle out of it once the city gets the federal funding.

Saturday, I thought I would run out to do some shopping.  I needed some new clothes and shoes, so I thought I’d head down to the Herald Square area to cruise the stores.

An hour later, I finally made it.  Normally, that trip would have been about 20 minutes or so.  Not this time.

I was excited because the train came almost right away.  Jumped on, and we pulled about 100 yards out of the station, and stopped.  Waiting.  Waiting.  Still waiting.

If that bitch on the intercom said “Please be patient” one more time…

So then we got to the next station.  Doors open and we wait.  Waiting.  Waiting.  Then we pull out, only this time we were moving about 10 feet a minute.

This was the entire trips worth.  It wasn’t even like I had the option to get off and transfer to a different train. Trust me, if that had been an option, I would have done it.

In all seriousness, I could have made it from the UWS Mid 80′s to 34th Street in half the time this train took.

The track gangs were everywhere.  One can only hope that they made  huge amount of progress in this one shot.  They were there overnight too.  That’s understandable, but you don’t see it in the middle of the day like that.

Uncivilsociety reminds us of a somewhat darker time in subway history.  This ad once ran on the subways in a pre-civil rights era.  It combines two themes in one ad that today would be considered unbelievably offensive.

First, the tongue-in-cheek way they use “women voting.”  As if it were an inevitability.  Then again, as we all know, women will only vote for Gold Dust detergent because that’s all women really know.  Right?

Second, we might be crazy enough to allow women to vote, but let’s face it, our black servants are the ones that will use the detergent in the first place.  As depicted in the ad, the lady of the house will buy the detergent, but the black house keepers will joyfully use it.

Very interesting to see how these ideas weren’t just in the back of people’s minds.  They were pro actively used in advertising!

Tonight/Tomorrow’s snow could be the subway system’s  first test of 2008.  Wet weather tends to cause massive cluster f*cks on most lines.

All it takes is a hold up ad ONE point on a line, and the entire line suffers.   So what do we hope to avoid?

Snow in general isn’t an issue most of the time.  It’s when it melts.  So the first thing we are looking to avoid is having a lot snow fall, and then melt all at once.  When it melts fast, it causes flooding because the system can’t handle all of the water at once.  So that can cause issues with signals shorting out, or  third rails being under water.

The other scenario of disaster is if the snow falls as a slushy mess and then freezes.  This can cause some slipping issues on the areas of track that are above ground.  Eventually, a very thin, very slick layer of ice forms on the rails.  Trains try to stop and slide.  Or the reverse happens.  Trains try to move and the wheels slip.

So I guess it is just wait an see.  Be careful, that first step can be a…

(click for larger view)

The oldest lines appear to be the most unreliable (no shock there). If you notice, though, the reliability has declined year to year. For the 1 thru 6 lines, running at 80-90% on time is a bit embarrassing. Sure, this is just one month (July), but that doesn’t make the situation any better.

(click for larger view)

This is the overall performance of the system. What immediately jumps out at me is how poorly the system does in the summer. SUBWAYblogger has always said that it seems like the trains are always late in the summer, and now we have the data to back it up!Is it the heat that the system just can’t handle?  By “the system” I mean all aspects.  Some of the top causes of delays are signal trouble, sick customers, and unruly customers.  These can, and probably are, all because by the oppressive heat.  However, I suspect much of the mechanical and electronic issues are a result of old technology, and poor preventative maintenance.

What bugs the hell out of me is the idea of actually decreasing the number of rush hour trains in order to cut down on congestion.  Doesn’t that just leave more people waiting on the platforms?  Therefore, every train that comes by gets packed with even more people?

Andrew Saul, Donald Cecil and Susan Metzger are the board members who have not made it to a single hearing.  They also happen to be co-chairs of the “Show Up When We Damn Well Please Committee.”

Saul is vice-chairman and head of the finance committee!  Head of finance, yet can’t manage to attend hearings on the largest finance measure of the year.  He’s also a candidate in next fall’s Republican primary in the 19th Congressional District, so that explains the arrogance.

Some people are just complete nightmares.

[Photos: Daily News]

Here’s this week’s highlight discussions:

- Subway Surfer
- 72nd Street Jumper
- New Fare Options
- Columbus Day is Stupid
- Idiot of the Day

This just in, the 7 line extension will have platform doors!

NY1 has learned exclusively (wtf?  Is it a secret?) that the 7 line extension will have doors on it’s subway platforms.

What the hell those?  Platform doors are sliding glass doors at the edge of the subway platforms.  They create a floor to ceiling barrier between the platform and the open tracks.

What for?  They not only provide a safe barrier from people ending up on the tracks, but they also save cooling energy.  By keeping the platforms sealed off from the tunnels when trains are not in the station, hot air cannot fill up the platforms.  Therefore, the stations are kept cooler, and energy is saved.  See what they could look like HERE.

The platform doors are estimated to cost $2 million per station.  However, the cost is made up in energy savings.

Perhaps the 7 line extension will clear the way for doors on the 2nd Avenue line to have the doors as well.

Granted, I don’t know how much I believe that, but it sure would be nice.

It’s my understanding that a portion of the revenue generated, and the federal funds are supposed to go towards improving the transit system.  So the money should not go towards keeping fares down, but instead should go towards improving service.

Maybe a sharp increase in ridership would generate enough revenue to offset the need for another fare hike?  Who knows.

In general, I wouldn’t necessarily mind paying a higher fare if it meant better service.  That includes better trains, more trains, and less unforeseen delays, etc.

There’s another problem that I don’t think gets enough attention.  The MTA receives funds from way too many sources.  It must make the finances in that agency a nightmare.  The MTA gets money not only from fares, but also property sales tax, regular sales tax, and a handful of other areas.

Just the other day, Mayor Bloomberg announced the slashing of sales taxes on clothing items over $110.   Until just recently, shoppers paid about 4% tax to the state, and 4% tax to the city on clothing over $110.  Bloomberg has dropped the city’s portion of that tax, basically cutting the total in half.

However, I’ve heard that the MTA gets something like 0.375% of that revenue.  I guess the question is whether the MTA’s cut comes out of the city’s half or the state’s.  In any event, that’s a prime example of what makes the MTA’s finances so complicated.

There are so many factors that can throw the system’s finances into chaos from year to year.  The whole thing needs to be simplified if we ever plan on getting a grip on the future of city transit.

Click here to view the embedded video.

You know you’re in Manhattan when you are entertained by the rats in the subway while waiting for your train.

Admit it, you know you get a certain amount of enjoyment watching a rat run around on the tracks.  As long as that little bugger is down there and you’re up here, everything is cool.  You even find yourself wondering, “What’s gonna happen when the train comes?  Oh this is gonna be good.”

Sick bastard.

It’s even funnier late at night when a lot of people notice the rat.  It continues to cruise down the tracks.  One by one, people start to lean over to see where it went.  Before you know it, everyone is looking.

Sometimes you see more than one.  They chase each other like squirrels in the park.

The rats in NYC have adapted to subway life so much that their fur has evolved to match the exact color of the grime on the track bed.  It’s actually pretty hard to spot a rat if it isn’t moving.  They blend in very well.

What’s also a little odd is the number of subway rat photos on Flickr.

Nice drumming though!

In even more obvious news, that means that riding the train is going to be more crowded and slower.  Shocker.

So what does he plan to do about it?  Well, he proposes that subway platforms get lengthened to allow 2 extra cars per train.  Also, he proposes that technology be improved to allow the trains to run faster than 18mph (average) and run closer together.  If the trains can run closer together, they could run more trains, more frequently. 

Also, if Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan happens, it will result in an immediate 2% increase in ridership.  Joy.

Long story short, the MTA needs to finally get rid of all the 1930′s technology and step up their game.

Last but not least, here’s the holiday weekend transit changes: (includes MONDAY)

1 train: No trains between 14th Street and South Ferry.

2, 3 trains: Trains run local between 96th and Chambers streets.

7 train:Flushing-bound trains run express between Woodside-61st Street and Willets Point until 10 p.m. Sunday.

A, C trains Starting tonight at 11:30 p.m. uptown trains run express between 59th and 125th streets.

E, R trains: Queens-bound trains run express from Queens Plaza to Roosevelt Avenue until 5 a.m. Monday.

F train:Queens-bound trains run on the V line between 47th-50th Street Rockefeller Center and Roosevelt Avenue. Coney Island-bound trains run express from Smith-9th Streets to Church Avenue.

G train: No trains between 71st-Continental Avenue and Court Square until 5 a.m. Monday.

N train:Manhattan-bound trains run express between Stillwell Avenue and 59th Streets. rerouted over the Manhattan Bridge from Canal Street to De Kalb Avenue.