Author: subwayblogger

C’mon ladies, eat a damn sandwich

subwayblogger1 Comment

skinny.jpg

A new article out on the AP Wire today says that women on crazy diets are actually causing subway delays. That’s right, women who skip meals are fainting on the subway, causing major backups.

Top Causes of Subway Delays

  1. Holding Doors
  2. Stalled Trains
  3. Sick Passengers

Coming in at #3: Sick Passengers. “Sick” covers a variety of situations, but according to EMT’s stationed at major transit hubs, many are caused by women who faint from low sugar, etc.

How is this possible? Well, a woman trying to shed some holiday weight maybe skips dinner and breakfast the next morning. On her way to work, she gets a little light headed and faints on the train. People around her contact the conductor, and the train is required to wait for EMS to arrive. Now do you see where this is going? And it happens more than you think.

SUBWAYblogger is going to start carrying a box of Powerbars around in case we spot some frail women about to drop.

When it comes to Women’s health issues one’s diet should be changed using moderation.

The Subway Reach Around

subwayblogger4 Comments

hands.jpgAt what point does it become inappropriate for someone to reach around you to grab hold of a rail? That is this evening’s question to ponder.

What the hell am I talking about? Allow me to explain.

We’ve all been on crowded subway trains. As you know, sometimes you have to get creative in order to find a place to hold onto when the train is standing room only. Unfortunately, some peeps take it a little too far.

For example, men always have to be careful with their reach. Why? Because women have boobs, that’s why. It is tricky for a guy to reach around a woman to grab hold of the rail without accidentally looking like a pervert. The last a guy wants is to go for the rail only to get a handful of boob instead. It only get ugly from there.

Then there’s guys that will reach right in your face. All of a sudden, there’s a guy’s hand or arm just inches from your face. Uhhh awkward.

Live from the subway, back to you in studio…

This Guy has Cojones of Steel: Jumps on Tracks to Save Sick Man

subwayblogger13 Comments

Wesley AutreySomebody buy this guy a drink!

Wesley Autrey was waiting for the 1 train when 18 year old Cameron Hollowpeter suffered a seizure and fell onto the tracks. Autrey jumped down onto the tracks to try and move Hollowpeter off the tracks, but could not get his body back up on the platform.

WNBC has a raw video interview with Autrey.

Instead, Autrey laid on top of Hollowpeter to protect the young man’s body as the train rolled over BOTH of them!  Meanwhile, Autrey’s daughters were watching from the platform.
Shockingly, neither one suffered major injuries. As a matter of fact, Autrey was treated and released from the scene.

Autrey said he shouldn’t be considered a hero, he was simply putting his military training to use.

SUBWAYblogger can’t even imagine being a witness to that. Could you imagine seeing the guy lay on top of the other guy as the train rolled over them? Whoa. That’s intense.

—————–

UPDATE

Turns out, Hollowpeter noticed Autrey having a seizure on the platform.

Autrey yelled to the station agent to call for help, and then used a pen to pry open Hollopeter’s jaw to stop him from biting his tongue. A few moments later, Hollopeter came to and stood up.

Basically, Autrey tried to save the guy twice!  Once on the platform, and then again after the seizure was over and the guy fell on the tracks.

It is good to be back

subwaybloggerLeave a comment

Back in the groove. Back to work (I’ll get over that soon), and back on the subway.

So far I feel like I’ve already won because I did not need a new MetroCard this morning. Thank goodness! The lines at the MetroCard machines were insane. Lots of people must have used up whatever they had left before the holidays, so everyone was refilling today.

My station has 6 automated machines, and each had a line at least 8 people deep.

I got my card out and went for the turnstile. It was one of those,”Ohh please work, please work,” moments. Victory! Although I will probably need a new one by the end of the week.

Not too crowded on this morning’s ride either. The train is full, but not stuffed like it normally is. I’d imagine that won’t start back up until sometime next week as many riders are probably still on vacation.

So that’s it for now, the state of the system. Great to be back.

Live from the subway, back to you in studio…

Back To Business for 2007

subwaybloggerLeave a comment

Ahh the first post of the new year.  A fresh slate.  A new beginning.  Back to work…damn.

SUBWAYblogger reader:

“Dude, I thought you wrote this thing from the subway.  What’s the deal lately?”

Yeah, sorry about that.  Hey, it was the holidays and vacation time.  Basically, SUBWAYblogger took a long awaited break from the daily grind.  So, the subway was not ridden much last week, thus no posts live from the subway.

However, SUBWAYblogger will get its butt back in gear starting Tuesday Morning (Jan 2).

In the mean time, we’ve focused on some feature pieces, which have gotten some attention in the blogosphere.  Since they seem to be so popular, we will probably do a little more of that sort of thing, and see how it goes.  Don’t worry though, it won’t come at the sacrifice of your twice daily live postings.

No Stopping in Times Square

subwayblogger1 Comment

newyearseve.jpg

If you are crazy enough to need to get off the subway in Times Square tonight, make sure you get there before 7pm.  After that time, there will be no Times Square stops.  All trains will be diverted away from there for security reasons.  Service will be restored around 12:15am for everyone flooding out of “New Years Central.”

Those planning to brave the insanity should get off at Penn Station and walk north.  Even before the Times Square station closes, it is till way to crazy to get off there.  Also, make sure you are on the side you need to be on since there is NO crossing Broadway or 7th Ave.

The Secret Battle: Online Route Planners

subwayblogger8 Comments

map.jpg

So maybe “Secret Battle” is a bit dramatic, but it is still somewhat telling. There is growing competition among online travel planners, especially those in New York City.

For years, New Yorkers had to figure out for themselves how to get from point A to point B. Now, there are a handful of online sources to help you out. They are sort of like MapQuest for public transportation…only you don’t end up in the middle of nowhere looking for a highway that doesn’t exist.

The most popular sites:

So which is the best?

HopStop [link] has been out for a little while now, and is probably the most popular of the sites at this point. The site has even managed to establish a partnership with AM New York. AMNY is one of the most popular free newspapers, available in just about every subway station in Manhattan. Hop Stop has set up operations in New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington DC. The offer subway and bus directions, but also have expanded into city guides, ratings, trips, and more. When getting directions, you can adjust your search to optimize for more walking, less walking, subways only, etc. depending on your personal preferences. The site is also very PDA friendly.

Public Routes [link] is similar to Hop Stop. They operate out of Connecticut, Dallas TX, New Jersey, New York, and Philadelphia. The directions tool also allows you to narrow your search by transportation method. One cool goodie is there soon to debut Traffic Alert system. Then, you will be able to see what areas to avoid on your trip, so that should be a time saver. The other features are kinda weak compared to Hop Stop, but the mapping/directions are just about as good.

onNYTurf [link] isn’t really a directions site. As a matter of fact, it is an open source blog about all things NYC. More of an online community for bloggers and information. However, they do have a cool Google API that overlays the subway and PATH system on top of Google Maps. It is really sharp, clear, and detailed. You can click on any on of the stops for more information too. It is definately the clearest straight up subway map on the web. It’s even better than the MTA map! It is cool too because it is a noncommercial project, so you gotta love that.

MTA Trip Planner [link] is brand new. It was just released by the MTA. Not bad for a city job. Unfortunately, it does not incorporate the maps. Just gives directions via public transportation. But, it does seem to work pretty well. One cool feature is that you can plan your route based on handicap accessible stations. So if you need that kind of thing, this will help you plan your route. Also, it incorporates the MTA Service Advisories right into the directions.

Read More »

Subway sketch artist

subwaybloggerLeave a comment

sketch.jpgSUBWAYblogger isn’t the only crazy one using the subway as a center subject matter. Cully from the blog A Child of Atom sketches the people he sees on the NYC Subway. His stuff is really cool. This is one of his most recent sketches.

I thought it was hard to type a complete posting in the time it takes to get from point A to point B. Yet somehow he manages to do an awesome sketch.

A full portfolio of his work is available on Flickr.

A new group of guys attempt to break the subway riding record

subwaybloggerLeave a comment

challenge.jpg

*****UPDATE*****
THEY MADE IT

******************

…for real this time. Allow me to clarify.

You’re probably saying to yourself, “Hey, didn’t a couple guys already break that record this summer?” Well, sort of. Yes, they broke a record, but it wasn’t the real record. They broke the amateur record.

They’ve caught a bunch of flack in the media for claiming to break the record, even though it wasn’t the official record. However, to their credit, they’ve never claimed to be official. Their website clearly states that they were just doing it for fun, and going after the amateur record. Click the read more link to see their route plan.

This group of dudes are attempting to break the…professional (?)…uhh…official subway riding record.

Let me break it down. There are two main subway riding record classes.

1. Full-system ride that requires you to stop at each station. (Class B)
2. Skip-stop ride that only requires you to pass through each station. (Class C)

The guys this summer broke the Class C record. They main distinction is that the riders can ride the express lines. In the Class C record, riders simply need to ride through a station for it to count. Therefore, they can ride the express trains for it to still count. With the Class B record, you basically need to take all local trains because you need to stop at each station, not simply pass through it.

Kevin Foster currently owns the Class B record, which he set back in October of 1989 with a time of 26 hours 11 minutes, and it is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records.

So who are these guys? Well, they are pictured above. Stefan Karpinski, Andrew Weir, Bill Amaosa, Jason Laska, Michael Boyle and Brian Brockmeyer. They have a live blog and website for their attempt.

At this point, you are probably thinking, “Holy shit, this stuff is a bit too official sounding.” Well, it gets freakier. There’s actually an official group that keeps track of the subway riding record, the rules, rider logs, etc. I know…WOW.

This summer’s record breaking event attracted the world wide media. That’s right…world wide. AMNY, The Daily News, CBS, CNN, NBC, ABC, BBC, etc all covered their ride. Must have been a slow news day. So SUBWAYblogger is left wondering if this more official attempt will get any where near the amount of coverage that these guys got.

They did make the 11pm news on CBS2, but not their website. Looking at their site, it seems that the Daily News and HBO have caught up with them mid-ride too, so we will look for that story in the morning. AMNY did a preview story too.

Read More »