Applying Make-up on the Subway is Dangerous

December 21, 2006 subwaybloggerLeave a comment

I am a former subway rider. I used to ride subways at least twice a day, as my work place was in Chelsea. But since last year or so, my work moved to the area I live, and so I have no use of subway anymore, unless I’m shopping in Manhattan.

That said, I have a funny story to tell.

So, this one time, I’m on my way to work (on the ‘N’ line) and we’re standing in between stations waiting for the train before us to clear. There’s this quite attractive girl sitting across from me and she’s putting on her make up. She’s quite skilled. She’s holding a mirror in between her thumb and forefinger and a mascara in between her pinky and fourth finger and she’s doing her lashes.

You can tell from the way she is holding her stuff, that she’s done that before. She obviously knows how to juggle it all. I’m pretending to read as I observe her from behind my book, she has already put so much gunk on her eyelashes I am sure she will have trouble blinking.

So all of a sudden the train jerks violently just as she puts another layer of the black stuff and WHAM! she rams that brush-thing into the corner of her eye and all the way across to her hair line. (Imagine Cleopatra make up).

Immediately she pulls out a tissue and tries to wipe it away, but I guess the thing is waterproof ans she ends up smearing the thing all over the side of her eye.Read More »

Ummm dogs on the subway

December 21, 2006 subwayblogger2 Comments

Ok so the woman a few seats down from me has a Yorkie (dog) in her lap. Isn’t that illegal? I think so.

I don’t have anything against dogs…I have a few of my own. But I’m pretty sure they aren’t allowed on the train. Even if they are, they certainly aren’t allowed to be out of a crate or carrier.

Luckily, this dog seems pretty mellow. I can’t even imagine if it started barking. People would flip. Ohhh…or if someone was deathly affraid of dogs. That would be nuts on this crowded train.

Live from the subway, back to you in studio…

Ohh the bells are a ringing

December 20, 2006 subwayblogger1 Comment

The Salvation Army is out in full force. It seems like they have every subway entrance in Manhattan staked out. Or at least the ones near the best shopping.

I don’t mind throwing some change in the bucket when I walk by. I certainy do it more that I would ever give change to random bums on the street. However, I feel like a cheap bastard when I don’t throw some change in the red bucket.

For example, I gave all my change to the guy standing at the subway entrance where I got ON the train. I feel cheap when I don’t have anything for the guy at the stop where I get OFF.

“No no…really…I have all my change to the other bell ringer.” Always sounds like a cop out.

They sould give you a little sticker like the ones you get when you vote. “I donated today.” That should help with the guilt.

Live from the subway, back to you in studio…

Book titles

December 20, 2006 subwayblogger4 Comments

Here’s an interesting way to kill some time on your next subway ride. Pay attention to what people are reading around you. Pay special attention to books. It is pretty funny/interesting to see what people are reading.

For example, I kid you not, the old lady sitting next to me is reading a dirty book. I can’t catch the title, but it is one of those paperbacks with a half dressed man and woman in a passionate embrace on the cover. Ewww.

I saw a guy reading Catcher in the Rye on the subway last night. I just assumed you had to read that book to pass 8th Grade.

If you are lucky enough to be able to see a page, read it. Some people are reading some sick sh*t.

Anyway, there’s a little tip to pass the time.

Live from the subway, back to you in studio…

Subway construction

December 19, 2006 subwaybloggerLeave a comment

Is subway construction like highway construction where they just constantly rip stuff up and replace it just to keep busy?

Over the period of a day or two, I noticed constuction crews ripping up a line of tracks, and then replacing them with new ones. They completely demo the concrete and railroad ties. Then, they pour fresh concrete, and put back the ties. The tracks didn’t look bad in the first place.

Each track must be on some sort of a replacement plan. Maybe it is like Verizon’s “New Every Two” deal. Hey, if it’s a saftey issue, I’m all for replacing the tracks. However, something smells a bit like a labor union to me…and it isn’t the homeless guy (although they do smell similar).

Live from the subway, back to you in studio…

Is that bar really going to stop anyone

December 18, 2006 subwayblogger2 Comments

The bar that you push past in the subway turnstile…that’s just more of a suggestion huh. If you’ve ever paid slightly more that average attention to the subway entry process (SUBWAYblogger has), then you have probably seen people hop the bar.

It really is more of a suggestion, because who is going to stop you? No one. The only way you are going to get caught is if a police officer is watching. If they see you, you can count on getting a summons. Otherwise, nada.

SUBWAYblogger is NOT suggesting that everyone start dodging fares. Not by any means. It’s merely an observation.

Why don’t they put more of the “iron maiden” style gates in? I guess those cause more issues than they are worth. People always seem to mess up, and lose a fare with those.

Anyway, if they could perfect the system, they could phase out the bar style ones. Think of all the fare money the would be saving! People would be forced to pay. Plus, those 17 year old “kids” that parents swear are 12 years old would have to start paying.

Live from the subway, back to you in studio…

Roger Toussaint: Back in Business

December 18, 2006 subwayblogger1 Comment

TWU President Roger Toussaint is back in business, taking on his third three-year-term as President of the Transit Worker’s Union.

And not a bad way to start his new term, coming of the recently settled labor contract dispute. The dispute was placed under binding arbitration. So in other words, the final decision of the arbitrator is enforceable by law.

Good for Toyssaint why? Because regardless of the outcome, he had no direct control over it. His team representing the union workers needed only to present their case. In the end, he cannot be pinned for “giving in” to the MTA since the final decision is out of his hands.

Even if the new contract really sucks (turns out it is just like the first one proposed), that gives him something to spend three years fighting. If the Union ends up loving the new contract, then he’s a hero.

Talk about a Win – Win.

(Photo by Lindsay Beyerstein)

See the light at the end of the tunnel

December 18, 2006 subwaybloggerLeave a comment

4.5 Days to go. Just keep telling yourself that. 🙂

SUBWAYblogger didn’t take its own advice this weekend. Somehow, I ended up in midtown, crossing 5th Ave too close to the tree at Rockefeller. As predicted, it was pretty crazy.

I figured, what the heck, it’s after 8pm on a Saturday. Most of the shopping crowd is probably gone. Uhhhh nope.

I thought for sure that I could get off well above the heart of Times Square and easily walk across town. Strike two.

The police were in the process of shutting down blocks around Rockefeller. The crowds were litterally spilling out into the streets blocks away. Eventually, there was no way traffic was going to get by, so they began throwing up the barricades.

The subway was no joke around there. At one of the Midtown Lexington Ave stops, the MetroCard machines all stopped working! They all had an Out of Service message on the screens. The line for the booth went all the way up the stairs. Why? Because the tourists don’t know that they could easily walk down to the next stop.

It was an interesting sea of humanity.

Live from the subway, back to you in studio…

Get ready for the worst weekend transit

December 15, 2006 subwaybloggerLeave a comment

This weekend should be the worst of the holiday shopping rush. There will be plenty of last minute shoppers out next weekend, but the bulk will be out THIS weekend.

It won’t help things that Al Sharpton and crew will be out protesting the police shootings…this weekend, they take to 5th Ave.

So, for a weekend, the subway is going to look like a busy weekday morning. Lots of people. Lots of shopping bags. Little space. Yippee!

SUBWAYblogger suggests getting a nice early morning start. Get up. Grab a bagel, and get on the train. If you try to get to the midtown stores in the middle of the afternoon…well…you’ll want to kill people before you even get to the shopping.

Good luck!

Live from the subway, back to you in studio…

MTA & Transit Workers Reach Binding Deal

December 15, 2006 subwaybloggerLeave a comment

BREAKING NEWS:

The MTA and Transit Workers Union have reached a deal. They entered into binding arbitration to settle the dispute over the labor contract that caused last year’s transit strike.

The arbitrator has announced that the contract is almost identical to the contract proposed shortly after the strike. The contract went to vote before the 38,000 union members, and it was voted down. However, now it appears that they will have to live with that contract anyway, or at least a very similar one.

The NO vote landed the dispute in binding arbitration, led by Chief Arbitrator George Nicolau known for his work on Major League Baseball’s collusion case in the late 1980s.

State law gives the arbitration panel the right to impose the decision on the two groups.

Also today, transit workers are voting to keep or remove union President Roger Toussaint from office. Union members are split over Toussaint’s leadership. He spent 3 days in jail earlier this year for contempt of court when defending the union’s walkout. The Union is in the process of paying $2.5 million in fines over the walkout, which was prohibited by state law.