Author: subwayblogger

Annoying Subway People (Part 3)

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I created the Annoying Subway People lists a few months back. I published Part 1 and Part 2 in quick succession and got a great response from both. I was totally stoked and planned on doing many more. I kept track of all the annoying people the trains had to offer and really had a good thing going. But then I accidentally deleted the master list! Nuts.

All my ideas were gone. I desperately tried to remember who was on the list, but it was all for naught. To make matters worse, I found myself either growing more patient with my fellow commuters or being too busy sweating my balls off. I even tried to get frustrated with people on purpose, but everyone was on their best behavior! Nobody so much as looked at me the wrong way! That in itself was frustrating. But then came the wedding…

The planning had been going full force for many months. The stress/anxiety levels were at record levels. I didn’t sleep enough and I had a million things on my mind. Low and behold, my patience level dropped to rock bottom. I’ll be damned if the Annoying Subway People ideas didn’t started flowing again!

So with that long intro out of the way, I present you the long overdue

Annoying Subway People: Part 3 To refresh your memories, so far we’ve covered:1. Zig-Zaggers
2. Doddlers
3. Fingers in Ear People
4. People Who Don’t Bathe
5. Door-Holders
6. Candy Selling Kids
7. Window Scratchers
8. Stoppers/Stair Stoppers
9. Earbud Guy
10. Stop and Go Conductors
11. No Speaka English-ites
12. Mimes
13. Shorties
14. The Leaning SleepersToday we start with Number…

15. Sickies: They’re already out in force now, but just you wait until cooler weather hits. I love boarding a train packed full of sniffling, sneezing, and coughing people. It’s even better when they’re sneezing and coughing directly on me. Screw carrying around Purell for my hands, I’m going to start carrying a can of Lysol to spray on people.

16. Bridge-Talkers: The N train takes anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes to cross the Manhattan Bridge. It’s the only part of my commute that has cell-phone service. Sure enough, every morning some jerk (or seven) pulls out his phone and squeezes in all-that important call. “Hey, what’s going on? Nothing? Me too. Just crossing the bridge…” and on and on and on. He doesn’t have anything to say, he’s just bored. Hey buddy, try reading a book or something. Nobody wants to hear how boring your life is.

17. Witches: Remember when we talked about Stair-Stoppers? Apparently there’s a extra special breed of stair-stoppers called Witches. You’ll see them as you try to exit the subway on a rainy day. They’ll make it all the way to the top of the stairs, then stop dead in their tracks and try to figure out how they’re going to survive when there’s a possibility of getting wet. You can actually see the panic in their eyes. Doesn’t matter if they have an umbrella. In fact, this might slow ’em down even more. Bonus points for little people that have ridiculously massive umbrellas.Read More »

Historic Findings at 59th Street Columbus Circle

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02plaque2large.jpgAs you know, I’ve been bitching about the massive, never ending amount of construction at 59th Street Columbus Circle. Well, the builders just recently discovered a little piece of subway history. They found this plaque mounted behind a false wall.

The plaque dates from before the IRT line even ran there…prior to 1901! How cool is that?

It just makes me wonder what kind of historic artifacts are hidden behind walls all over the city. Little bits of history, just covered up and forgotten.

It turns out that the 59th Street station was a kind of proving ground for the architects Heins & LaFarge in 1901, three years before the Interborough Rapid Transit Company trains began running through it.

“The architects used its walls as an art gallery, experimenting with decorative ideas in various colors of tiles and other materials,” Philip Ashforth Coppola wrote in “Silver Connections: A Fresh Perspective on the New York Area Subway Systems” (Four Oceans Press, 1984). “When the real decorating of Columbus Circle began, all these preliminary experiments were covered over and forgotten.” That is, until this fall. [From NY Times. Read more here]

There’s talk about carefully cutting it out of the wall and placing it in the transit museum. I wish they would leave it right where it is, maybe restore it a little bit, and make it available for people to see. The could do something artistic with the way the wall is peeled away just around the plaque part itself. It’s really cool, as a rider, to come across these little treasures.

The Idiots Just Never Stop

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Back in mid October, we did the story about a subway surfer that died up around 155th Street. Read the original story here.

At the time, witnesses said they saw Benjamin Brooks, 23, subway surfing, he fell, and was killed.

Well, now Brooks’ sister is writing in to comment. She says we should lay off, it was a tragedy, and he was just “…riding to get in the cart.” Here’s what she says:

benjimin was never pushed nor was he train surfing…..hes was riding to get in the cart…..before you make any judgement get your fActs straight because this was a tradgedy……plus people die doing all types of risky hobbies….so leave my brother alone and allow him to rest in peace!!!!!!!!!

Ok, first of all, what the hell does “riding to get in the cart” mean? Was he riding on the roof, hoping to get inside?

Secondly, look at date this was first published. It was published before the official results were published.

Third, I clearly said:

If it turns out that the kid accidentally fell off an overpass, onto the top of the train, and then surfed it downtown, I will retract my statement.

Fourth, people that were actually there said they saw him on top of the train. Those are called witnesses. I’m gonna go with no. Were you there?

Fifth, let’s look at those “facts” you say I need to get straight. Here’s what the New York Times published the next day:

But yesterday, the police said that it appeared that the dead man, Benjamin Brooks, 23, had simply missed a southbound C train at 155th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue in Harlem around 6:30 p.m. His friends were already inside, the authorities said, so Mr. Brooks apparently decided to hang by his fingers, and balance by his feet, from the outside of the car’s door.

When the train entered the tunnel between 155th and 145th Streets, Mr. Brooks, who had been living at a homeless shelter in Harlem, was apparently shorn from its side, the authorities said.

Well well well. It seems that your brother was just as dumb as suspected. Instead of just catching the next train, or waiting for his friends to get off the next stop and come back, your brother decided to cling onto the outside of the train like Spider Man. Only, he doesn’t have super powers.

Remember this video, and how appalled we all were? Yeah, this is the kind of thing your brother did.

So yeah, my judgment was was pretty accurate. I was wrong, he wasn’t surfing on top of the train. He was just voluntarily clinging to the side of it.

I’m sorry, this wasn’t a tragedy. This was an someone doing something that any normal person knows would get them killed. Just because it did get him killed doesn’t mean it was a tragedy. If I decide to lay down in the middle of the Lincoln Tunnel to take a nap and get run over, that is not a tragedy.

It would be a tragedy if someone was severely hurt inside the train when they had to slam on the brakes when they realized he was shorn from the side of the train. It would be a tragedy if a rescue worker was killed trying to save his life. However, your brother getting killed, while sad, was exactly the outcome that should be expected when someone does something that stupid. Oh, and by the way, riding outside the train is also illegal, so that makes the situation a crime too.

Why the subway custodian probably makes more than the rookie cop patrolling that station

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The subject is subway security. You’d think that NYC would want to have the best officers possible. I’m not saying we don’t, but it certainly isn’t easy to attract them. Why?

Well, as a rookie officer, you’re looking at $38,000 a year. That’s it. So right out of the gate you are limiting yourself in terms of recruiting because there’s not many people who would be willing to only make $38k a year.

This is all nothing new. No breaking news. However, this all made me wonder how much MTA Employees make.

Yesterday, we ran a little poll to see what people thought plumbers, custodians, painters, etc should make on an annual basis. The results show that 75% of our readers think these positions should make less than $45,000 a year.

How much do these MTA/NYC Transit workers actually make? Surprisingly, that basic info is available online. The MTA posts it’s open jobs with salary ranges right on their website. Here’s some highlights.

There’s an opening for Manager of the 7 line. That must be a popular gig these days. Salary: $124,800 – $208,500.

Telephone Maintainer: $52,000 (plus night & weekend bonus)
Plumber: $52,000 (plus night & weekend bonus)
Structure Maintainer (aka Painter): $52,000
Manager, Car Accident Investigation and Testing: $60,700 – $95,900
Administrative Associate: $48,000
Customer Service Rep: $53,000

I especially loved this one: Read More »

How much should they be paid?

subwayblogger

Ok, this is the first of a two part series focused on how much MTA Employees are paid versus other city service workers.

First a quick poll.

[poll=5]

We will have the full wrap up later on this story. You will be shocked…at least I was. So check back soon, we’ll have all the details.

In the mean time, just ponder what you think would be reasonable.

How much should a custodian or iron worker make?  How much should a conductor or maintenance supervisor make?  We’ll have a lot of fun with this one soon.  The comments are going to be GREAT.

Hemmerdinger Quite the Humdinger

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hemmerdinger2.jpg(Sorry for the headline. Couldn’t resist)

Ok, let’s break this down. There’s some amazingly stupid shit happening up in Albany. This shit smells remarkably similar to the shit dished by George Bush when asked why the hell he thought Mike Brown was qualified to run FEMA.

As we all know, there is an opening for Chairman of the MTA. The way this works is that the Governor nominates a replacement. Then there’s a confirmation process, yadda yadda. Well, as you can imagine, there’s potential for some cronyism because you have to be nominated for the job.

Enter Spitzer’s nominee, H. Dale Hemmerdinger.

Hemmerdinger freely admits that he knows very little, if anything, about transportation policy. In a nutshell, he knows when he presses the gas, his car goes forward. That is the extent of his transportation knowledge.

Before the State Transportation Board, he was peppered with questions.

Asked what the state would do to handle more riders if New York City imposed congestion pricing, Mr. Hemmerdinger replied: “I only know what I read in the papers at this point.”

On his familiarity with the authority’s proposals for a fare increase: “I’ve looked at it as I’ve read it in the paper.” [NY TIMES]

Yes, he used the “read it in the paper” response at least a dozen more times, according to the New York Times.

Maybe someone without any transportation experience whatsoever is exactly what the MTA needs. A fresh perspective perhaps?

Lots of Controversy this Week on SUBWAYblogger

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It was a fun week on SUBWAYblogger.  We managed to drum up a lot of drama and debate.  SUBWAYblogger will always be a completely open forum for people to say whatever they want about anything posted here.  Even stuff we think is the biggest bullsh*t ever will not be censored.

Here’s this week’s highlight discussions:

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

Idiot of the Day

subwayblogger36 Comments

sleep.jpg

I don’t often get fired up about the opinions expressed in the comments by readers of this blog, but this most recent one made my blood boil. Here’s the scenario:

Back on September 13th, we posted a story about a kid getting shot at subway station right near the token booth. As a side comment, I said I hoped the token clerk wasn’t asleep at the time so that maybe they could identify the suspect. On that note, I posted six (that’s right…six) different photos I found online of MTA Employees literally sleeping on the job.

After that, I commented that employees sleeping on the job should have their new raises revoked and given to employees that actually manage to stay AWAKE during their shift.

Then, Tom McManus (a subway worker) posted this response:

WOW!, I see you don’t miss any chance you get to bash us BASTARDS. Perhaps it was the token clerk who shot him. And I suppose you are 100% productive 100% of the time you are at work, RIGHT? I may be a BASTARD but you are an @$$hole!

My jaw dropped with I read this. He’s actually defending people who sleep on the job. As if it’s not that big of a deal because no one is ever “100% productive 100% of the time” at their jobs. Because you know, we all fall asleep at work all the time. What’s the big deal, right? (Here’s my full response)

So the TWU wants raises, free benefits, etc for their workers, but little naps during your shift are ok too.

Am I the only one who thinks this is the most ridiculous comment ever?