Folks, are there really any words to describe this morning? I don’t even know where to begin.
All I know is that I walked over 50 blocks to get to work this morning. What a nightmare. Luckily, I was not caught in the rain, but I might as well have been because I was soaked in sweat.
So I left my building this morning and turned the corner. That’s when I saw it. About 150 people waiting for the bus. I knew right then that it was going to be a nightmare commute. So I walked to subway entrance knowing that they couldn’t possibly be running. There, a transit cop told me there was no service at all on the 1, 2, 0r 3. Damn it.
Then I decided to walk over to Central Park to catch the B or C. Got half way over there, and a fellow straphanger told me not to bother because those trains were out too. Damn it again.
So I started walking south. Every block had 30 or 40 people trying to get cabs. Every bus stop easily had 100+ people waiting. So I decided to walk down Riverside Drive, hoping that maybe a random cab would be over there. Nope. Damn it again.
Then I tried the M5 bus. At each stop, 2 or 3 buses just blew by the stops. Even the limited buses weren’t stopping at the limited stops. How fucked up is that? People were going bat shit insane.
So I crossed the UWS back and forth before just sucking it up and walking to midtown. Each step more sweaty than the next.
I heard an MTA or NYC Transit official on TV literally say, “At this point, we can’t get people from point A to point B on the subway.” That about sums it up.
How much longer are we going to have to deal with this crappy infrastructure before they do something about it. A heavy rain is all it takes to throw the city into chaos. And there’s clearly emergency plan in place to handle this when it happens. People are just SOL.
Share your war story in the comments.
SUBWAYblogger 
I got up early to take a run. Instead I found it raining. A LOT. So instead I figured that if I wanted to get to work, now would be the time to start. Hopped on a #4 train in Brooklyn at 6am, switched to the A at Fulton/Broadway and got off in midtown at normal schedule.
Yay me.
Now I’m just wondering how the hell I’m going to get home.
LikeLike
I skipped working out this morning when I heard that it was raining outside. However, I did get up early so that I could get to work earlier than usual; instead, I was later than usual.
I waited for the train for about 30 minutes when I knew that I was better off taking the bus. Well, very little I know…there were countless of bodies fighting for the spot on the sidewalk where they think the bus was going to stop. Before I could even think of hopping in a cab, I saw people sitting on top of each other in each cab that passed me. I finally snapped out of my denial that all is well with the public transportation today and I had to think fast.
Since I was going to the Eastside from the Upper Westside, I ran a few blocks to catch the bus that went all the way to Grand Central. It didn’t take that long before the bus came, I was able to squeeze myself in, and after a few stops, I was able to sit down. There I was sitting down in a crowded bus thinking I had it made until nature called – I had to go the bathroom! I thought I could hold it for an hour, but the bus took over two hours before it even got close to midtown. I was squirming in my seat for over two hours and when I finally couldn’t hold it, I squirmed my way to the front of the bus and begged for the driver to let me off. Well, of course the answer was, “no” so I waited painfully until he finally stop and I bolted out of the bus.
If you must know what happened afterwards – well, maybe not.
LikeLike
I live in Brooklyn near Sunset Park and I didnt have the same nightmare you did because I sat on the train for about an hour before giving up and just going home. I went around taking pictures of the aftermath of this storm/tornado.
If you dont mind I have some pictures on my flickr id like to share:
LikeLike
I Love New York…
…Not… Well, only days like today. I woke up to what sounded like a waterfall running just outside my window. Every year the weather gets worse, and New York’s really starting to show its age because of it. Between the congestion (traf…
LikeLike
I just sent yet another complaint to the MTA via their website about today’s meltdown. I am still fairly new to the city (going on my third year) but the subway system has plagued me since my arrival. For some reason, sadly enough, today didn’t really surprise me. What does surprise me is that more people are not completely outraged by the absolute incompetence of NYC Transit. How can we get enough people frustrated enough to force the city to make a change!?!?!?! Almost everyday I finish my commute with total dismay and this poor excuse of transportation in this great city.
LikeLike
Can I be the first to blame the litter clogging the drains? I haven’t heard that excuse since the last flood.
Also, the people who work in the booths should be fired. I’ve never met a more incompetent group of assholes in my life. If you don’t know what’s going on, just say that. I don’t mind. But don’t be a complete dick about it. I mean, your job is basically to sit in an air-conditioned booth and tell me what’s going on the in the subway, right? Maybe pass out a map every once in a while? What the hell is their problem?!
I’m more pissed at those people then I am about the subways breaking down.
LikeLike
I took NyQuil and was in such a deep sleep that I woke up not even knowing that it stormed the previous night. I waited for the N or W at Astoria Blvd for 15 minutes. I didn’t know the weather affected anything b/c I waited that long during my commute the previous day when it was sunny (worst line in NYC indeed). It finally showed and we were told it was going to Queensboro Plaza but turning back around once there since the tunnel was flooded.
We were crammed onto the train and waited 5-10 minutes at each stop b/c the trains ahead of us had to turn back towards Astoria on the Manhattan-bound line. As we waited with doors open, idiots kept coming onto the train despite it being filled to capacity. The doors wouldn’t close due to this so we were stuck longer.
At Queensboro, huge crowds of people waited for the 7 train. They were PACKED and I had to wait for two trains to pass before finally squeezing onto the third. Of course, the same door closing problem happened with the 7, so it took much longer to get into Manhattan. A 20-minute commute took me 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Boo
LikeLike
We all might as well move to the jungle. Same shit there. It rains, everything stops. NYC or the jungle, same difference.
LikeLike