If you’re a rider of the 1 train, you’ve probably seen this guy a time or two. However, I’ve never seen his little dance until just now.
Category: Weekend
So it’s like total drama with like those info sign thingies.
“When is the next train coming? Don’t ask the MTA.” –NY Post
Siemens has totally f’ed up the software they were supposed to create to power the subway system’s digital message boards. Back in 2003, Siemens won the $160 million contract to create the system which would tell subway riders when the next train would arrive.
The screens basically track the trains in the system so you know when the next one will arrive. When there are problems in service, the signs would be able to tell passengers what the problem is, and provide alternate instructions.
Well, the software basically doesn’t work. And Siemens isn’t able to fix it even though they have already been paid over $42 million. So now the MTA is going elsewhere to get someone to finish the job. Basically, the lesson is that you can totally screw up a job and still get paid by the MTA.
The only good news is that a completely different system is being used on the “L” line. They expect that project to be done by the end of the year.
Weekend “L” train back in bizznass
Ok folks, this weekend, I got nothin’. There was no subway related news that I could come up with. For that matter, we were not in the system much that weekend. Kind of a sit around on your ass kinda weekend.
But there is good news! This weekend was the first weekend that the “L” train was back in business on the weekends. So now we have a weekend route back between Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Unfortunately, some weeknight service will still be hit or miss, and there will be one more weekend scheduled where service will be out.
However, we will be able to see a definate benefit from this recent hassel. The new systems on the L trains will allow for more trains to run on the line AND a new system that tells you where the trains are in real time. Finally, those new electronic information boards will be available.
L train riders will be able to look at the monitors and tell exactly when the next train will be arriving. The boards will also tell you if there are problems or delays.
Anyway, that’s the most exciting news we could come up with for the weekend. Let us know if we missed something!
Uptown 2 train stabbing
A man was stabbed on an uptown 2 train last night sometime around 3am.
He and another man allegedly got into a bit of a dispute just south of the 23rd Street station. The suspect stabbed the man, and fled on foot from the station.
The victim managed to get off at the 28th Street station to call 911.
Note to self: Ride subway alone late at night at own risk!
Smell it
Gawker’s new transit smell map is now up and running. That’s right…a smell map.
Ever notice a terrible smell in the subway in the same spot every day? Check to see if it has made the map. If not, put it on there yourself. It is interesting to see what is already on there. As you explore your normal routes, you’ll often find you “smell memory” triggered.
How messed up is this headline?
In a nut shell, a guy was killed yesterday when he was struck by a 2 train in the Bronx. At this point, no one really knows what the hell he was doing on the tracks. Sad..yes, but simple enough. So what the hell is the Daily News doing with this story?
Here’s there headline: Train wipes out young dad’s promising life
Umm…what the hell does him being a “young dad” have to do with anything? Does that little tid-bit of info have anything to do with the story at all? Nope.
But it gets better (or worse)…
Here’s the Daily News lead:
A young Manhattan dad who grew up poor but recently graduated from college was struck and killed by a No. 2 train in the Bronx early yesterday, cops and family members said.
Is it me, or are they reeeeeeeeeeally digging for this one. “A young Manhattan dad who grew up poor but recently graduated from college…” Apparently the fact that he was hit and killed by a train wasn’t enough for the Daily News. For some reason we first need to know that he is a father, young, poor, but a recent grad. Ohh, by the way, he was hit by a train.
We later learn that he was one of 14 children, so we guess that explains why he grew up poor. Maybe if his parents stopped popping out kids, he would not have been poor, a young father, and later killed by a train?
Bottom line, so far the police and family have absolutely no idea how the guy ended up on the tracks. So all we know is that he’s was found face down on the tracks. So what is a newspaper to do with a story like that. You can’t just write that a guy was found dead on the tracks and no one knows why? In the mean time, we’ll just have to dig into the poor guy’s family life and history…cause that’s what we really wanted to know.
Harlem Week 2006: Aug 29th – Sept 30?
Nothing says good, clean, family fun like a neighborhood event sponsored by Miller.
Ok so we admit that we don’t know anything about Harlem Week other than it really isn’t a week. It is actually a month. Harlem Week runs from Aug 29th thru Sept 30th. Soooo shouldn’t it be called Harlem Month?
The MTA is apparently supporting Harlem Month Week by linking to the site. We also assume that they are trying to get more people into Harlem via MTA transportation. Of course, we have nothing against Harlem. SUBWAYblogger only lives a few blocks from Harlem. We just find it funny that Harlem Week is really…well…more than a week. We hope we aren’t the first ones to notice.
HarlemDiscover.com is the website. We also wonder if it should be DiscoverHarlem.com instead, but who are we to judge.
Feelin’ hot hot hot
Ever wonder why the subway is so damn hot? Well the MTA has a podcast to explain all about it.
By the way, does anyone else find it strange that the MTA has a regular podcast program? This is honestly what resources are being spent on. Kind of makes SUBWAYblogger do a double take when we find stuff like this. Anyway, the podcast is actually very well produced. Enjoy.
Way to go NYC! We’ve won second place.
This week, a report was released ranking the cities with the worst commutes. Guess what? New York City was ranked number 2…as in the second worst in the country. Vineland, NJ was ranked number 1, but we think that’s total bull. Who’s ever heard of Vineland, NJ? We think they made that one up so that New Yorkers wouldn’t riot in the streets.
What is so sad is that a college had to go back and look at the official data that was released by the government agency. Why you ask? Probably because the kids there are smart and suspicious of the government…like they should be.
In the report, Queens College discovered that there are actually more commuters than ever before. How ’bout that. Instead of just ranking the cities, we had to rely on a bunch of Queens College coeds to extract some useful information. Furthermore, they found that tens of thousands of working class people have stopped driving their cars in favor of public transportation including buses, trains, and subways.
SUBWAYblogger, of course, believes that the NYC Subway system is the absolute best way to get around the city. Unfortunately, it sounds like the word is getting out. More and more people are saying, “Screw driving in this sh*t,” and heading for the subways. Guess that’s job security for SUBWAYblogger!
Lesson Learned: Stay away from yellow and orange subways
So apparently you are taking your life in your hands if you venture onto the yellow or orange subway lines these days. The other day, there was that father that killed his kids then threw himself in front of the Q train. Yesterday, some little punks stabbed a 15 year old on the D train.
The police thinks it could have been gang related (shocker). All of the suspects were between 13 and 16.
I say, if convicted, they should be thrown in front of a moving subway. Oooor made to grab the third rail. We can let them pick. And no, it doesn’t matter that they are minors. If that is the crap you pull, then you face the punishment as an adult.
SUBWAYblogger 
