There’s something going on down here this afternoon. There’s cops stationed on both sides of the platform at just about every stop on my line.
There must be some sort of elevated threat level. Maybe it is a drill or something.
Whatever it is, there’s definately more police movement in the system for some reason.
Anyone know why?
Live from the subway, back to you in studio…
This morning’s 3 train service was suspended north of 96th Street “because of a police investigation.” Ok, so that sounds like a good reason. A little security/safety is alright. But what were they investigating?
That’s SUBWAYblogger’s idea for a new website. There should be a site where you can go to see the “official” investigation reports any time there’s an unplanned service outage.
Everytime there’s a service disruption in the middle of rush hour, straphangers are left wondering what the hell it was for. A site that pulled all that info together would be awesome.
Unfortunately, it would probably be reliant upon the police filing their reports in a timely manner. The interest would probably wear off if a report didn’t become available until weeks later.
Live from the subway, back to you in studio…
That justification for train delays always makes me wonder.
Why does a sick person on a train mean that trains have to get thrown all out of whack? Ok, so the person is sick, but can’t they just get off the train and wait for assistance on the platform?
That’s why I think the “sick passenger” think is just complete bull. Does “sick” mean motion sickness or heart attack? Does “sick” mean laid out on the floor of the train?
If so, they should just be more upfront with the info. Just say that there is a passenger unconcious on the train. At least then the hold up sounds justified.
Live from the subway, back to you in studio…
Ok, so this morning’s train was plagued by door holders. Actually, it wasn’t door holders so much as people getting stuck in the doors as they tried to squeeze onto the overful train.
So here’s my idea to combat people who insist on cramming into over packed trains:
You know the black, rubber gasket on the doors where the doors come together? Basically, the part that pinches you when you get stuck in the door. The part that grabs onto your coat and won’t let go. You know…the “door bumpers” if you will. (see illustration)
Ok that part of the door is where I suggest they make out of ink pads. Instead of rubber, they should make into a huge rubber stamp. That way, if some gets stuck in the doors, it is going to leave huge black ink lines on them.
Knowing that, there’s no way anyone would stand near the doors as they were closing if they knew they were going to get “stamped” by the doors. Wouldn’t wont to ruin that new denim body suit!
Ok ok…we don’t need to make it out of permanent ink. It could be something washable. As long as it is something that would make you look like a compete ass in your morning board meeting.
Your thoughts?
Folks, summer is quickly bearing down on us, and we look pretty terrible. There. I said it.
The warm weather makes people in NYC want to break out their new sping outfits, which is fine. However, did you buy that thinking you were going to lose 15 pounds before wearing it? Maybe you forgot when you pulled it out of the closet today.
Currently, I am crammed between some men and women who should perhaps give their choice of outfit a little more thought.
This goes for men and women. For example, fellas, let’s keep the sleeves on our shirts for a few extra weeks. Ok? I know it is news to you, but we can see your man boobs when you wear that cutoff shirt. Also, if your chest hair starts at your collar bone and goes straight down to your knuckes, you might want to always have sleeves…even though it feels like you already do.
Live from the subway, back to you in studio…
MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow has finally stepped down so that Gov. Spitzer can choose a replacement.
Sometimes, it seems like these politicians are just threatening each other like school kids. As if Spitzer was going to take away all Kalikow’s toys if he didn’t quit. Jeez.
Anyway, its been a long time coming. Litterally, back on December 1st, we reported that Kalikow planned to resign some time in second quarter.
Did you know that Kalikow wasn’t really being paid to be Chairman? He’s already ridiculously wealthy from his realestate firm and was former publisher of the New York Post. NYC has a history of hiring wealthy people that don’t need to be paid. Look at Bloomberg for example…he’s worth a reported $13 Billion!!
The city pays Bloomberg $1.00 a year. If you’ve ever been to his office/cubicle, he has the checks framed on the wall.
Anyway, Kalikow stuck around to get some projects off the ground, of which I know of at least one blogger that is happy he did. As soon as Spitzer finds a replacement, Kalikow will ride off into the sunset. Thanks for the good run, Pete!
Two more people died on the subway this weekend, however, this time they weren’t subway construction workers.
In two separate incidents, a pair of homeless men were killed. One man died while walking between train cars. He apparently slipped and fell between the train cars as they were moving. That never ends up well.
The other man died from an apparent stabbing. However, this is the one that seems the strangest. The police were not ruling out a an existing health condition. When they arrived though, they found him bleeding from the chest, and pronounced him dead on the scene. I was unaware that “bleeding from the chest” could be a preexisting health condition. Maybe he already had a wound that started bleeding again?? They were also up in the air about foul play. So maybe the guy stabbed himself?
The homeless in the subway is apparently becoming a growing problem. The population living in the subway has grown 33%. That’s a bit much.
Above (click images for larger view): (Left) This shot was taken back in 1988 on an S train. If you look further down, you can see that there are people on all of the benches. The photographer says that people avoided this car like the plague because of the foul odor. (Right) Today, the condition doesn’t seem to have improved. It may not be as bad as the 80’s, but it’s still a problem.
Since making Google Maps mashups seems to be so popular lately, someone should put together a Margarita map to outline the perfect Cinco de Mayo bar crawl.
Lay it out by subway stop perhaps. Just pinpoint all the places you can get tuned up within 1 block of the subway exit. Hell, SUBWAYblogger would probably help sponsor it!
Yes friends, the stars and the moon have aligned to finally bring us both major drinking holidays on Saturdays in the same year. Both St. Patrick’s Day and Cinco de Mayo fall on Saturdays, so what could be better? (Other than not having to see the sun on Sunday)
There will be the Cinco de Mayo parade tomorrow from 11am to about 2pm traveling downtown on Columbus from 110th to 59th. So if you’re headed to the park on the UWS, be prepared to navigate around.
The floor (comments) is now open for suggestions on where to find the best Margaritas! Your thoughts?
Live from the subway, back to you in studio…
In the wake of not one but two subway deaths, New York City Transit Chief, Howard H. Roberts Jr., wrote an open letter to all 47,000+ transit workers asking them to work safer.
Mr. Roberts, who started the job in mid-April, said he was taking the deaths last month of the two track workers, Daniel Boggs and Marvin Franklin, in accidents five days apart, “personally” and said that he felt “responsible for everything that happens or does not happen at NYC Transit.”
The letter was sent via email to employees as well as posted around work sites. So if he was so “personally” touched by the issue, why couldn’t they mail the letters to each employee? They probably get a postage discount, so would have only cost about $25k. That’s chump change for the MTA. That’s probably what they spend on rat poison every month.
In the mean time, all non-essential construction projects are still suspended. I wonder…if you work on one of the suspended crews, do you still get paid? It’s a union gig, so I would imagine you would.
Words of wisdom people…If you have a blog or website in general, you need to do regular backups. Especially if you are making daily updates to your site.
Late last night, there was a major screw up on the SUBWAYblogger backend. Our main host attempted to restore a day old backup, but that failed no matter what they did. In short, they were pretty worthless.
Luckily, SUBWAYblogger does a manual backup on a daily basis, and it was worth it. Well into the night, we were restoring our back up. If we didn’t have the most recent backup, we easily could have lost all of April and May’s postings. That would have suuuuuuuuuuucked!
So take it from us: Backup early and often!
SUBWAYblogger 